Perfect Moment
by DoctorFang
Summary: Edward brings home his new girlfriend Isabella Swan to meet his family. But wait, Bella knows Carlisle? All vampire. Some normal pairings, but some change...
1. Reunion

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my plot! Not even Carlisle! :(**

BPOV

Edward stopped the car and was almost immediately opening my door for me. I stepped out and took his hand, smiling nervously at him.

"Relax, Bella, they're going to love you. Don't worry! You'll fit right in." He reassured me, chuckling.

"I know, I know. But seriously, what if they hate me?!" Today was the day he was taking me home to meet his family.

"They won't, love! But even if they do, it won't matter because I love you." He kissed my cheek and just then a black-and-white blur came flying out of the huge house in front of me and attacked me. It turned out to be a tiny, pixie-like girl with spiky black hair, hugging me fiercly.

"Hi Bella! I'm Alice! I'm so excited to finally meet you! Yay I have a new sister!" She said all this in one breath, while bouncing and still hugging me.

"Come on! Let's go inside! By the way, I can see the future so prepare yourself for something big!" She continued, dragging me inside while I pulled Edward along too.

"Alice!" Edward whined. "If you're going to block your mind from me, PLEASE sing ANYTHING other than Britney Spears!"

I laughed, as did Alice. Just before we entered the house, well mansion, she leaned over and whispered so only I couls hear, "And whatever you do, DON'T kiss him!"

I wondered what she meant by that, but I shrugged, following her inside. Alice was chattering about how we were going to be best friends and have so much fun shopping together. But she was cut off by a HUGE guy grabbing me up in a bear hug and spinning me around.

"Hey Bells! I'm Emmett and I'm gonna be the BEST big brother EVER!" He said in a booming voice.

"Put the poor girl down, Emmett!" He did and I turned to see a drop-dead gorgeous blond girl, glaring at him with her hand on her hip.

"Sorry Rose." Emmett said sheepishly. The girl looked me up and down and them smiled slightly at me.

"I'm Rosalie. Nice to meet you." She said politely. Emmett walked over and wrapped his big arms around her.

"Wow Rosie! I'm impressed! That's the nicest I've ever heard you be to anyone not in this family!" Emmett commented, sounding surprised.

"Bella IS in this family now, Em." Edward said, grinning and hugging me from behind.

"Hi Bella, I'm Jasper." A tall blond guy said, stepping forward to shake my hand.

"It's very nice to meet you all." I said, smiling. I wasn't as worried about not being liked after that enthusiastic greeting.

Just then, two more, slightly older-looking people cam down the stairs. A blond man with his head turned had his arms around a motherly looking woman with caramel colored curls. He was whispering in her ear and I couldn't see his face. But on the last step, he looked up and I froze.

Vampirese don't trip, especially this particular one, but he was so busy staring at me that he tripped over the last stair and almost fell on me. I steadied him with my hand on his chest and stared into his eyes with my mouth slightly open. His expression mirrored mine, staring right back at me.

"Isabella?" He whispered incredulously. I hadn't heard that voice in over 300 years. That beautiful, deep, velvet voice, with the slight British accent.

I couldn't breathe (not that I needed to).

"Ca-Carlisle!" I managed to choke out before pulling out of Edwards arms, jumping on the man, and throwing my arms around him.

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CPOV **(AN: starts before Edward and Bella arrive)**

I smiled to myself as I got dressed. It was the day Edward was bringing home his girlfriend to meet our family. He met her while traveling through Europe and we finally got to meet her that day. I was so happy he had at last found someone to love.

Judging by the racket downstairs, they had arrived. Esme and I walked down the stairs slowly. I had my arms around her and I was whispering in her ear, so I hadn't seen the famous Bella yet. I felt a pang as the name made me think of my own Bella, but I brushed it off.

On the last step, I turned to look at her and – tripped. I don't trip. Ever. But it was _her_.

I almost fell on her as I let go of Esme. But she stopped me with a hand on my chest. I knew I looked idiotic, but all I could do was stare at her with my mouth hanging open.

"Isabella?" I whispered.

She ripped herself away from Edward and choked out "Carlisle." Then she jumped on me and wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist.

I laughed and grabbed her, hugging her as tightly as I could without breaking her. Not that I really had to worry about that anymore.

Her body shook with dry sobs and laughter. I had the biggest smile on my face since the last time I saw her. I pulled her even closer and said her name over and over again, trying to convince myself she was really there, I wasn't making it all up.

My Bella had come back to me.

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BPOV

Carlisle held me for a few minutes while I sobbed into his neck. He was hugging me so tight it hurt, but I didn't care. All that mattered was that I was back in his arms once again.

I quieted a little and pulled my head back to stare at his beautiful face, to make sure he was really there. I hadn't smiled that much in 300 years.

"I thought they killed you! I can't believe this! Is it really you?" I said through my quiet sobs.

"And I thought they killed YOU. Yes it's really me. I'm so sorry, Bella. This is all my fault. I'm so sorry." He said, sounding like he was about to cry too.

I shushed him. "Hey, it's not your fault. It's nobody's fault." He didn't reply, but pulled me even closer.

I ran my fingers through his soft, thick blond hair again and again, just staring at him, memorizing his face. My memory hadn't done him justice at all. He seemed to be doing the same thing, staring at me with an amazed look.

I leaned in to kiss him, but suddenly remembered Alice's warning and the people surrounding us. Instead, I kissed his cheek, rested the side of my face against his, and sighed happily, closing my eyes.

We were over the ugency of needing each other as close as possible and were now just enjoying the perfect moment. We were both smiling softly with our eyes closed, while he gently rubbed my back and I stroked his hair.

"Guess what?" I murmured.

"Yes?" Came the reply.

"I've changed my mind. Your hair is now the SECOND best thing about you."

He chuckled. "Oh really? And the first is…"

"Your voice. I always took it for granted. But I haven't heard it in 300 years and I missed it the most." I explained.

We were silent for another minute before Emmett decided he'd had enough of this touching reunion and coughed loudly, laughing a booming laugh. This was followed by a smack and an, "Ouch Rosie!"

A perfect moment ruined.

My eyes snapped open to see six VERY stunned vampires staring at us. I realized how awkward this was and I quickly untangled myself from him and jumped down. He laughed and kept one arm around me. I did the same as we turned to face our extremely confused family.

Our little exchange fellt like it had lasted for hours, but it was really only a few minutes and the family was still standing there. I had completely forgotten everyone was watching us.

Emmett chuckled. "I take it you two know each other."

Thank God vampires can't blush, or I would have resembled a fire truck at that point.


	2. Story Time!

**Thank you SO much for all the reviews!!! This is my first real story, so I was literally screaming when I saw them!!! I hope you like the rest of the story!**

**Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own anything! How sad.**

BPOV

"Let's sit down and talk." Carlisle said after an awkward silence.

"Yipee!! Story time!" Emmett squealed, earning another smack from Rosalie. Everyone headed to the living room.

"By the way," Carlisle continued, "Bella, this is Esme. Esme, meet Isabella Swan."

The motherly woman cam over and hugged me. "Welcome to the family Bella. Now, would you mind telling us how you know my husband?" She said kindly.

At the word 'husband', I raised an eyebrow at Carlisle, who didn't meet my eyes, but cleared his throat and turned to his family.

Emmett was on an armchair with Rose on his lap. Jasper was on the floor with Alice between his legs, leaning back against his chest. Carlisle and I were in the middle of the couch with his arm over my shoulders. Esme sat next to him on one end and Edward was on my other side.

I didn't want him to think I was didtching him for his 'dad' so I held his hand and smiled at him.

"As you can all probably guess, Bella and I knew each other a long time ago." Carlisle began.

But he was once again interrupted by Emmett. "YUP!" He boomed and Rosalie hit him again.

"Anyway," Carlisle continued, ignoring him. "We met in London, about 300 years ago. I was a relatively new vampire, but I had already adjusted to the animal diet and my control was good. Bella here was a beautiful human girl, 16 years old. We were at a party the first time I saw her. And smelled her. She was my 'La tua catante' – her blood 'sang' for me. It was the sweetest thing I had ever smelled, or have smelled since. I HAD to get close to her, to attack and taste this delicious smelling blood. I asked her to dance with me, and of course she agreed. I found myself plotting ways to get her to leave with me. I knew she would come easily and I could satisfy the burning thirst. But then, she waved to a friend and I realized I couldn't do it. She was a beautiful, young girl with loving friends and family, and a whole life ahead of her. I couldn't take it all away from her just because I was a selfish creature. I still felt drwn to her, though and I started talking to her. I discovered she was also the most interesting person I had ever met. I found out more about her from around town and tracked her down after that first night. We started seeing each other more and she soon became my closest companion."

"Of course my parents were ecstatic." I added. "My mother almost had a heart attack when he showed up at our house a week after that party, asking to see me. And how could I resist him?" I chuckled, elbowing him playfully. "We got closer and mother couldn't wait until he proposed. Anyhow, I got to know him and I always knew there something different about him."

Carlisle took over again. "Eventually, I realized I either had to tell her and hope she accepted me, or leave her. I knew neither of us could deal with the latter. She had taken away my lonliness and stayed with me even when she knew I couldn't be human. I finally told her the truth and she didn't even _care_. It was quite incredible for such a young girl to be so completely comfortable around me."

"Not really." I said. "I just knew you would never hurt me. I trusted you." I looked into his eyes and got lost in them for a minute.

Carlisle snapped out of it first and continued with the story. "So we became even closer and it was all perfect. Until I had to go visit the Volturi on some business. When I was catching up with Aro, he saw Bella in my thoughts." His jaw clenched as he brought back the painful memories. "He knew I had told her, and that left him only two options. Change her or kill her. I refused to allow either. I would be taking her life away no matter what. Aro let it rest for the moment, but I knew it was only a matter of time before he sent some guards to kill Bella. I only hoped I could protect her when they came."

He stopped here, trying to get his breathing back to normal. "But I couldn't." He whispered, not looking at me. "There were so many of them. I should have been able to protect you. But they took you from me. And I never saw you again. I thought they killed you."

He was speaking just to me now, but he had his face in his hands. "That has haunted me ever since. I'll never forget when they took you away. I always hear you screaming for me. But I couldn't do it. This is all my fault. I will never be able to express how sorry I am Bella."

He finished and looked at me. The pain and anguish I saw in his eyes broke my cold dead heart.

"Hey. Don't ever say that. It wasn't your fault at all. It was going to happen eventually, we knew that. And there was NO possible way that you could've fought them off. Aro knew you would fight for me. He sent too many. And don't even try to tell me I would've been better off if you stayed away from me in the first place. We both know how wrong that is. IT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT." I said to him and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly. He buried his face in my hair, holding me close.

Emmett coughed again. "Ok, now that we've had that touching moment, can we comtinue?"

"Ok Emmett." I said, but still held onto Carlisle with one arm. We both couldn't stand to loose the contact and be separated again. "Well, they took me back to Volterra." I started.

Both Carlisle and Edward tightened their grips on me. "They were going to kill me, but then they noticed how Aro couldn't read my mind, and even Jane couldn't hurt me. They decided I would be useful, so they changed me. I'm a sheild to all mental attacks. Anyway, I was always a good girl, except I drank from animals, and I was a special favorite of Aro's. He noticed how lonely I was when I thought you were dead, even surrounded by all of them. He let me leave to find a smaller coven I could be happier with. I travelled for a long time, never finding anyone I fit in with. Aro thought I would hate you for not saving me, so I never knew you were alive. Occassionally, I would visit Aro. Finally, I met Edward and now I'm here." I finished, smiling up at Edward and squeezing his hand.

I noticed Carlisle's arm stiffened around me when I mentioned Edward. Alice saw it too.

For the rest of the afternoon, I heard the stories of the the rest of the Cullens. By nightfall, I felt much closer to all of them and I was beginning to feel like I had finally found a family.

The rest of them were going hunting, but Carlisle and I didn't need to. So we stayed together alone…

**Like it? Hate it? Please tell me what you think, just don't be TOO mean. I'm new! **

**~mims**


	3. i can't think of a title

**Disclaimer: I don't own it! **

BPOV

I couldn't help but watch as Carlisle said goodbye to Esme, and I could feel his eyes on me as I kissed Edward. Alice shot me a warning glance as she left. When we were finally alone, I turned to Carlisle.

"I missed you so much." I said quietly as I looked at him. He hugged me again and sat down on the couch. I leaned into him and rested my head on his chest.

We sat in comfortable silence for a while before he finally turned his head to face me. He looked torn, but he finally groaned.

"I can't take it anymore!" He said and leaned down to me.

Our lips touched as my eyes fluttered shut and it was bliss. I had missed this so much. This was a perfect moment.

Until I remembered it wasn't.

Carlisle was deepening the kiss now and his usual gentle calmness was gone. He could never kiss me like this before, without breaking me or killing me.

I was more than willing to go along with him at first, until I realized what I was doing. I pulled back and made him look at me.

"This is wrong. For a lot of reasons. And two of them are named Edward and Esme." I said.

He sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry. I just missed you so much. I never thought I would see you again."

"Carlisle."

"Yes Bella?"

"Do you still love me?"

"Yes Bella." He sighed again. "Much, much more than I should. Because I love Esme too and I'm supposed to be _married_ to _her_."

"I feel the same way. Which is why this can't happen again. I love Edward. Even though that love doesn't even come close to comparing with how I feel about you, I can't hurt him like that. So we can't do this again. At least until we find a way to work this out and be together for real without hurting them."

"You are absolutely right, Bella. I'm very sorry. I think we both need this tonight. But we won't let it happen again. I promise."

"Thank you Carlisle. I just don't want to make this even harder. I love you." I told him, looking into his eyes and stroking his hair.

His face broke into a breathtaking smile that I hadn't seen since the last time I said those three words to him. "I love you too Bella."

I laughed lightly, grinning like an idiot. "I haven't heard you say that in 300 years."

We must have looked really silly just then. He was lying on the couch with me lying on top of him, and we were just staring at each other with stupid smiles on our faces.

We sat there for a long time, just talking about random things. Normal Carlisle was back. The calm, patient leader of the family. Occasionally, he would kiss me gently, but not like before. It was just comfortable, like no time at all had passed since the last time we saw each other.

There were just a few differences. For one thing, I no longer felt like I was lying on an ice cold, rock hard statue. Now he was warm and soft and generally more equal to me.

For another thing, I couldn't shut up the voice in the back of my head that was telling me he was no longer mine, either.

Who was I kidding? _Everything_ was different.

Eventually, he started kissing me more seriously again and I decided I had to tell him. Tell him the real reason I wouldn't kiss him like this.

I pulled away and looked at him. "Stop. I won't do this. I can't." I said forcefully.

He tried to act like that didn't hurt him, but I could tell it did. He got off of me and went to sit on a chair across the room.

"I get it." He said. "It's Edward now. He's the only one you do that with. I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. I shouldn't have done that."

His face was stony now. I sighed and tried to explain it to him.

"No, Carlisle, that's not what I meant. That's true, it _is_ wrong, but that's not why I said to stop. I don't do that with _anybody_. Not Edward, nor anyone else. Since you, that is." I said, looking down.

"Why?" He asked, curious now.

"Two reasons. One, you. Even though I thought you were dead, I still felt like I was betraying you. Two, well… there's something else I haven't exactly told you."

He looked a lot happier now, but he still hadn't moved back over to the couch.

"Just tell me Bella. Whatever it is." He said.

"When the Volturi took me from you, I was… well… pregnant." I refused to meet his eyes, but after he was silent for a long time, I looked up.

His jaw was clenched and he was looking away from me. I could tell how angry and hurt he was.

And that hurt me. I thought he would be shocked, but at least a little happy.

"Well, who was it?" He asked angrily. "Your 'friend' Jonathon? Samuel? Who?"

I was so relieved that I laughed. I had thought he was angry with me and himself for getting me pregnant.

Laughing was a big mistake though. His head snapped toward me and his eyes were black from pain and anger.

"Oh Carlisle! I only laughed because I'm relieved! I thought you were mad at me for getting pregnant!"

"That's _exactly_ why I'm angry." He said through clenched teeth.

"Oh don't be ridiculous Carlisle. You actually think I cheated on you? It was _you_!"

"What?! That's impossible!" He said, looking shocked and disbelieving.

"Well you are the only person I've had sex with so I guess it _is_ possible! I mean, no one else has ever tried, so how would we know? So anyway, yes I was pregnant."

"Oh honey I'm so sorry. I just thought…" He trailed off and came back to the couch, sitting down and pulling me onto his lap. "A baby. Wow. This is… surprising." I turned to face him and he looked amazed and very happy. I smiled back.

But his face fell as he realized it couldn't turn out well if I didn't have our child with me now. "What happened?" He asked quietly.

I started trembling with pain and fury at the memory. "Well, when they figured out I was pregnant, they kept me alive until I had the baby. Only because Aro wanted to make me happy and I couldn't stand losing the last part of you I had left. **(AN: Aro is nice in this story) **The pregnancy was extremely sped up and I had our little boy in a matter of weeks. I called him Carlisle Junior, CJ for short. I was so happy. He was so beautiful." I smiled thinking about him.

"He had your blond hair and my brown eyes. That was the happiest month of my life since I was parted from you. But one day… Aro went out." I shuddered." Marcus and Caius thought he was too dangerous and like an immortal child. They said he had to be killed. He was sort of a vampire/human hybrid. But he was just a baby! And I loved him so much! Aro knew this and protected him from the others. But that day, he couldn't avoid leaving. They came." I was shaking now and I couldn't bear to look at Carlisle. I could feel how tense he was, even as he tried to sooth me.

"Demetri and I tried to fight them off. He had a thing for me and was always protecting CJ and me. But we just couldn't do it. Jane got him. She got my baby. I had to watch as she tortured him. Had to listen to his screams. I screamed and begged her to let him go or take me instead, or even just kill him to stop this. Finally, she put him out of his misery." I was dry sobbing at this point. "My poor baby! I loved him so much!"

Carlisle suddenly set me gently on the couch and stood up. He was shaking as he walked over to the glass wall and punched it. The glass shattered and flew everywhere. Then he went over and hit a huge hole through the wall, clear to the next room.

Esme wasn't going to be happy, but I understood. He didn't want to accidentally hurt me, so he took some of the adrenaline from the anger out on the wall.

He walked stiffly back over to me. He lifted me up and sat down before setting me on his lap again. He held me tightly as I curled up into his chest and sobbed my heart out.

Carlisle was still shaking and his eyes were almost red with his intense anger. His jaw was clenched and he was trying to control his breathing.

He held me all night while I cried, never moving.

Until the others got home.

**Let me know what you think! I have most of the story written, I just need to type it so I'll try to update as often as possible!**


	4. apology and random fun!

**Yay! Thanks for the reviews! I hope you like it!**

BPOV

A few hours later, Alice burst through the door and ran straight over to me and Carlisle, wrapping her arms around both of us.

Neither of us moved. Carlisle's red eyes still stared straight ahead and I still held onto him like my life depended on it.

"Oh Bella! Carlisle! I'm so sorry! I saw it all but I just couldn't come sooner! This is so awful!" Alice said.

Then the rest of the family walked in and Alice let go of us.

"What on Earth…" Esme started when she saw the damage to her house, but trailed off when she saw Carlisle's face.

When Jasper walked in, he staggered back from the intense emotions radiating off us. His attempts to calm us were futile and he had to go back outside before he hurt someone.

Edward ran over to me and tried to lift me out of Carlisle's arms and take me somewhere to talk to him. But I clung to Carlisle and he said, though it was more of a growl, "Don't. Touch. Her." He still hadn't moved.

Edward quickly backed away. He knew that Carlisle could and would hurt him while in this state. He and the rest of the family retreated, knowing we needed space.

A few more hours passed and I had finally cried myself out. I quieted and stopped shaking so violently. I was still trembling a little though.

I looked up at Carlisle's face for the first time and was frightened by what I saw there.

"Hey. Carlisle. Please stop, you're scaring me." I said quietly.

He slowly looked down at me and he saw something in my face that changed his eyes back to their normal warm golden color. He relaxed but was still a little tense.

He smiled slightly at me. "I'm sorry honey." He murmured. "I was just so angry. I can't believe this."

"Well now you know reason #2. I just can't stand to be reminded of him." I shuddered once more and then hopped up, determined to be in a good mood for the family.

"We should go apologize to the others. They've never seen me like that and I think I've scared them." Carlisle said and stood up too.

We called the family into the living room to explain. Edward entered first and he looked so worried that I had to smile at him. He slowly moved toward me, shooting a look at Carlisle, who was holding my hand. Carlisle smiled apologetically and Edward immediately wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly. I put one arm around his waist, but refused to release Carlisle's hand. I then realized I had been touching Carlisle in some way the entire time since I first saw him here.

Esme walked in and approached Carlisle.

"Esme." He said gently, taking a tentative step forward. "I'm so sorry. I just…"

But she cut him off, hugging him and kissing his cheek softly. "It's alright dear. I was just so worried! I've never seen you like that. I didn't know what to do."

Alice walked in next, pulling Jasper. I had never seen Alice actually _walk_; she was always bouncing or dancing along. It was the first time I saw her sad either. She gave me a sympathetic look. She was the only one who knew what had made us so upset.

Jasper hesitated at the door, wary, but he relaxed when he noticed we had calmed down.

Emmett was serious for the first time and Rosalie was somber as well.

Carlisle looked at everyone. "Well, we want to apologize for our behavior earlier. I especially do. I'm very sorry for scaring you and for destroying the walls. That was inexcusable and I should have controlled myself better."

"I'm sorry too." I added. "I just couldn't keep it in. Edward, I hate this, but it was just something from the past that I needed to talk to Carlisle about. I'm not trying to push you away; it's just very… personal. I'm sorry." I looked at Edward but I couldn't read his face.

"Well what on Earth happened to make you two so upset?" Asked Esme, sounding very concerned.

"I'm sorry Esme. But that's Bella's story to tell when she's ready." Carlisle told her.

"And I'm not quite ready yet. Again, I'm sorry and I'm not at all trying to keep you out, but it's just very hard for me right now. And Carlisle, I hate to break it to you hun, but it's your story too."

He grimaced at me. "You're right. It was mine too."

Only Alice and I knew the whole meaning of his words.

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Everyone let that topic go for a while. Life continued normally and happily. Well, as normal as life can be for vampires. I got to know my family better and I knew I had finally found where I belonged.

I started attending Forks High School with the Cullen 'kids'. I was posing as Carlisle's goddaughter. I had great control around humans (my record was as clean as Carlisle's) so I even made some human friends. All the guys chasing me did get annoying though.

Carlisle and I also spent a lot of time catching up and talking about anything and everything. We never had a repeat of the first night though – we never kissed or talked about CJ.

*************************************************************************************

One morning, a few months after I came to Forks, I bounced downstairs to find Carlisle reading on the couch. I had spent the night talking to Edward and was in a great mood for no reason.

I skipped over to him, plucked the book out of his hands, and plopped down onto his lap.

"Well hello there. Someone seems to be in a good mood this morning!" He greeted me, giving me a hug and kissing my cheek.

"Good morning Carlie!" I said back happily.

He groaned. "Don't start that! I hoped you had forgotten."

Back when I first knew him, I discovered how much he hated being called 'Carlie', so of course that immediately became my favorite thing to use to annoy him!

I pouted. "You're no fun!"

"Oh really? Is that a challenge?" He asked. "I'll show you fun!"

And he flipped us over so I was lying on the couch with him over me. His knees were on either side of me and he was sitting on my hips. He had an evil smile on his face.

"Oh no! I know that look! DON'T DO IT!" I screamed.

But of course he ignored me and started tickling me like crazy. That wasn't fair! He knew it was my weakness!

"AHHH!!! Edward! Alice! Somebody! Help!" I screamed through my hysterical laughter.

But then I remembered they were out hunting in the woods, though I was sure they could probably hear me. I had to deal with this myself!

Finally I got up enough strength to throw him off me and onto the floor before bolting out the door. I ran as fast as I could, but Carlisle was close behind me. We had just entered the trees when he lunged and grabbed me, sending us both flying.

We landed about 100 yards away, him flat on his back with me on top of him. By this time, we were laughing so hard that we shook the trees around us.

Just then, a familiar voice said "What's this?" and we froze.

Another perfect moment ruined. Great.

**You know what to do! **

**~mims**


	5. visitors

**More will be explained in this chapter... or the next one. But don't worry, everything will work out eventually!**

I quickly stood up, as did Carlisle.

"Aro?" I said, and they stepped out of the shadows. The Volturi.

Aro came forward to embrace me, kissing my forehead. "Dearest Isabella! It has been too long!" He said kindly. "And Carlisle! My old friend! I hope you have been well. This is quite a shock, seeing you two together. We heard you had another coven member, so we came to investigate, I never dreamt it would be my sweet Bella!"

The rest of our family came up behind us and Edward wrapped his arms around me from behind. I kept my hand intertwined with Carlisle's though.

A tall dark man stepped forward and I pulled out of Edward's grasp. "Demetri!" I greeted him. "Hey Big D! I missed you!"

"Hey Bells! I missed you too babe." He hugged me and someone growled when his hands went dangerously close to my ass. I couldn't say whether it was Edward or Carlisle.

I chuckled and moved his hand up to my back. He laughed and kissed my cheek.

As soon as he let me go, Edward's arms were around me and he was glaring at Demetri. This annoyed me, though I didn't know why. I grabbed Carlisle's hand again.

"Can this really be? You two are reunited at last! How delightful!" Aro exclaimed, clapping his hands. "I hope you know how truly sorry I was to have to separate you. Oh, but how does dear Esme feel about this? And Bella, you seem to be rather attached to Edward here."

"Things have changed Aro." I said.

"Oh, but I really thought you were destined to be together forever after just now. Of course I thought it was ridiculous at first. How could a vampire really be in love with a human?"

At these words, Carlisle and I froze, but Aro didn't seem to notice and he continued.

"But Carlisle _did_ put up quite a fight trying to save you! And I realized how _very_ attached you were when the little one came along! And when I saw you just now, I thought everything had worked out in your favor. But I suppose you never know with these things…" He trailed off.

Carlisle and I were still frozen and the rest of our family was staring at us, very confused.

"In love? Little one?" Edward said, raising his eyebrows and letting go of me.

"We'll explain later." I said quietly.

"Oh my! You hadn't told them! My, my, this is awkward! I'm terribly sorry! I imagined you would have told them. But I'm sure dear Alice knows at least." He said, touching Alice's hand.

"Ah yes." He continued. "I suppose it's not hard to figure out after that touching little reunion during the hunting trip. And you saw their conversation about CJ as well, didn't you Alice?"

"Yes." She replied curtly.

Edward had backed away from me and I was standing alone with my arms wrapped around my stomach, staring at the ground. Carlisle was alone too, clenching his fists and looking away from everyone.

"Oh by the way Bella!" Jane had stepped forward to address me, but I carefully kept my eyes trained on the ground. "You left so soon that I never got to congratulate you on your beautiful baby! And this must be the father! They looked so alike! It's a pleasure to finally meet you Carlisle. I've heard _so_ much about you! Well congratulations! Your son was so delicious!"

My head snapped up, as did Carlisle's. Our eyes were red as we stared at Jane. Carlisle growled and I hissed at her.

"Emmett" Carlisle growled and Emmett forward to hold him back. Carlisle must have thought something too, because Edward restrained me as well. I knew he didn't want to be near me, but he held me back anyway because he didn't want me to get hurt.

Jane put on a mock-terrified expression and said, "Oh no! Daddy wants to hurt me! But not if I hurt him first!"

She smiled angelically at Carlisle, and he was thrown backwards and onto the ground, twitching slightly with pain.

"NO!" I screamed. "Not again! My poor baby! Stop!"

And then I lost it.

I ripped away from Edward and lunged at Jane, knocking her to the ground. She tried to throw me off, but my anger made me stronger. Besides, she was no match for me since she couldn't use her power.

I heard the metallic screech as I tore her arm off. But then I heard another one and looked up in shock. Esme, sweet, motherly _Esme_ was helping me destroy Jane. She had a steely expression and an angry glint in her dark eyes.

Carlisle calmly stood up and lit a fire before throwing the limbs on it and ridding the world of Jane forever.

I looked up at him. I stared at him for a moment and then ran over and threw myself at him. He ran to meet me and caught me up in his strong arms. I held his face between my hands and looked at him to make sure he was alright.

Then I started kissing all over his face while he held me and stroked my hair gently. The love we were feeling was so powerful that Jasper had grabbed Alice and hugged her.

Finally, I pulled back and looked at him once more before leaning in and kissing his lips softly, running my fingers through his hair. He kissed me back sweetly and it felt like we were the only two people in the world. A perfect moment.

But I pulled away quickly as I heard clapping and remembered that we were NOT in fact the only two people there. I couldn't bear to look at our family, so instead I looked at Aro who had a broad smile on his face and was clapping.

"Bravo!" He said happily. "Wonderful show! You know, I _was_ getting rather sick of Jane, so thank you for assisting me with that problem. Well, I'm sure you have PLENTY to discuss with your family, so we'll just be going now. The newest member is not a problem for us. But do be sure to visit us sometime Bella."

"Of course Aro!" I said and kissed him and Demetri once more. "You better call me D!" I said sternly.

"Anything for you hun." He said, grinning, and they departed.

I turned slowly to face my family. Uh oh.

**Review please!**


	6. think of your own title!

**Hi! silver drip brought up a good point about the last chapter – the reason the Volturi were there was because they were worried about the size of the Cullen's coven. They heard there was an addition, but it was okay with them once they found out it was Bella. It was kinda short and confusing, so sorry. I just wanted to clear that up! Thanks!  
~mims**

BPOV

We walked home slowly, in silence, not looking at each other. We all sat down in the living room, but stayed quiet for a few more minutes.

Finally, I got frustrated and broke the uncomfortable silence. "Alright! I'm sick of this! I'm just going to spit it out!"

I took a deep breath and then said quickly, "I've been in love with Carlisle Cullen since I was sixteen years old. Everything we told you is true; we just left out the part where we fell in love. And then I got pregnant. That night Carlisle got so mad was when I told him about how I got pregnant. I found out right after we were separated. The Volturi let me have the child, and Aro protected him, but one day Jane got him. She made me watch while she tortured and then killed him. My baby." I whispered the last part and was staring at my hands in my lap, shaking.

"I'm not violent, but I had to do something about Jane. Do something to make up for, even just slightly, what she did to my child and countless other innocent people. Anyway, I'm just… so, _so_ sorry for all the unnecessary problems and hurt I've caused this family. I never meant to lie to anyone, hurt any of you, or tear you apart like this at all. It's true that we kissed on that first night, but it never went any farther and we swore it would never happen again. And it hasn't."

"Why?" Edward cut it, and I flinched back from his harsh tone. "Why stop? Why not just leave us and be happy together if you love each other so much?"

"Because, Edward, we love you all just as much." This time, Carlisle was the one to explain. "We could never tear the whole family apart and hurt you all just because we were selfish. However, I see now that if we really wanted to keep from hurting you, we should have told you the complete story. You would have trusted us enough for it to be okay."

We sat in a few more minutes of silence before I broke it again. "Esme?" I said timidly. I was afraid of her reaction to me now. "Why did you help me with Jane? Don't you hate me?"

She smiled fondly at me. "Because, honey, I know what it feels like to lose a child. And what Jane did to you is beyond terrible. And of course I don't hate you sweetheart! The truth is, Carlisle and I have been thinking about getting a divorce for a while now."

She paused as everyone stared at them in shock. "Of course, we would always remain close, and yes we love each other, but we have always known we aren't soul mates. And we knew that our true soul mates would most likely come along eventually, and we didn't want our marriage to be in the way of fate and happiness. And here you are, dear."

She smiled at Carlisle, and I could see in her eyes that she truly meant all of this. She really did just want us to be happy. "Furthermore," She continued, "I have no reason to hate you, unless it was based off jealousy. I believe you when you say nothing happened. I trust and love you both very much. Be happy." She finished and came over to hug each of us and kiss our foreheads.

Edward had been very quiet through all of this. Finally, he spoke. "Unfortunately, I'm not as noble as Esme and I do love Bella more than anything. But, hey? Who am I to fight destiny? Luckily, I love you _both_ enough to want you to be happy. So I won't put up a fight."

With that, he got up and went outside for a run. I started to try to follow him, but Jasper stopped me with a look. I sighed and leaned into Carlisle's side, burying my face in his chest. He rubbed my back soothingly.

"Why do I always end up hurting somebody?!" I groaned.

"On the contrary, Bella, I think you just did Edward a lot of good." Alice said with a sly grin. I smiled back, I knew that look. "Let's go outside everyone. We have visitors."

*************************************************************************************

EdPOV **(AN: italics are thoughts)**

I knew I shouldn't run from my problems, but I did it anyway. I just needed to escape for now, even if it wasn't a good way to solve it. There wasn't really ANY good way to solve this though. I would just have to give them my blessing and get over her. Pretend I was okay with the supposed 'love of my life' leaving me for my 'father'. Right. Insert sarcasm here.

I was momentarily distracted from my thoughts when I sensed other unfamiliar vampires near me.

I sighed. "Who's there? I'm not in the mood for games." Two figures stepped out of the shadows as my family appeared behind me.

I glanced at the man first. He was tall and built, with sandy blond hair. He looked to be about 25. He was staring at Esme with an awed look.

But then I looked at his companion and was too mesmerized to care. She looked like she was about 17 years old when she was changed. She was a head shorter than me, with a body any girl would die for (even Rosalie's thoughts were jealous). Her jet black hair fell straight halfway down her back and contrasted wonderfully with her pale skin. Her eyes shone and sparkled, and they were beautiful even though they were ruby red. They were framed by thick black eyelashes. She had a small nose and full lips on her heart-shaped face.

The girl noticed me staring and smiled slightly, looking confused. She was even more stunning like that. I was glad Alice elbowed me, or I would have stood there staring with my mouth hanging open all day. She was the most beautiful creature I had ever beheld.

I was so distracted that I didn't even notice or care that Carlisle was holding Bella's hand as he calmly spoke to the man, asking him to refrain from hunting in the area. I DID see the smug look that passed between Bella and Alice as they watched me gape at the girl though.

I was snapped out of my daydreams about this girl by her voice. It was like bells, chimes, and the wind all at the same time, and I suited her perfectly.

"My name is Lola and this is my brother Perry." She smiled again, and I swear my dead heart started racing.

"We heard about you from the Amazons and have been hoping to meet you ever since." She continued. "We are very interested in your diet and way of life, so close to humans. I hate killing humans and do it as sparingly as possible, but I never thought of drinking animals as a substitute. We also have been trying to find a coven or family of some sort for a long time. We are tired of roaming around and wish to settle down. So…" She looked down here, like she was embarrassed. "We were wondering if we could possibly impose to stay with you. Only for a little while of course, just until we get used to the lifestyle." She added quickly, and her thoughts showed how nervous she was.

Carlisle chuckled. "Of course you may join us. For as long as you wish. Forever, if you choose."

Lola looked up with an elated expression and Perry grinned. She still looked slightly disbelieving though. "Really?" She asked.

Carlisle laughed again. "Yes Lola. Really. I'm Carlisle Cullen and this is my family Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, Esme, Edward, and Bella." He pointed at each of us and pulled Bella close to him when he mentioned her. But I didn't notice.

_Can we trust them?_ Carlisle's thoughts asked me.

I looked at Lola's and Perry's thoughts. They were both relieved and excited that we seemed to accept them. Perry also noticed that Esme seemed to be single, and was very happy about that fact. Lola was wondering why I was staring at her, but she also was pleased that I seemed to be single.

I finally tore my eyes away from her to nod at Carlisle. But I couldn't keep in the involuntary growl as I finally registered how close he was holding Bella.

He immediately released her. _I'm sorry, Edward. I wasn't thinking. I truly am sorry about this. It doesn't have to be this way. I'll let her go. _

I smiled genuinely, letting him know it was alright. My eyes flashed to Lola and back, and Carlisle smiled like a proud father. Which I guess he was.

Lola had noticed this silent conversation and now looked confused.

"I can read minds. It's my power." I said, smiling at her. "Should we go back to the house and talk more?"

They agreed and we headed back to the house for more stories and explanations. Déjà vu.

**Yay! Edward and Esme can be happy too! Even though I hate Edward, I decided to be nice to him. So ****review**** and you can find out what happens next!**


	7. shopping trip!

**Yay! Longest chapter yet! This chapter isn't very good, but read it anyway. **

LPOV

We sat in the living room of their enormous house and Perry and I told the Cullens our uneventful story. I was changed in 1918 while walking in the woods, and the next day I accidentally bit and changed Perry. Then we travelled around, hating life (well, death) until now. I don't even have a power. Perry can sometimes manipulate the outcomes of certain events. He only uses it for good though.

The Cullens told their various tales and explained their powers. I had noticed the exchange between Carlisle, and Edward. And I saw how Carlisle was hardly touching Bella anymore, though they seemed to be mates. I wondered what happened between them.

Edward must have heard that. He briefly explained that the mates of the coven had recently changed. Odd. Vampires don't fall out of love. Maybe they had some kind of past. Edward nodded curtly at me when I thought this.

I didn't want to pry, so I let it go and we talked for hours. I realized happily that Perry and I seemed to fit in well. Maybe we had finally found a home.

"So where is all your stuff to move in?" Alice eventually asked.

"This is basically all we carry with us." Perry said, shrugging and holding up our backpacks.

Alice gasped, looking horrified. "Oh my goodness! We need to go shopping IMMEDIALTELY!" She exclaimed. "And where will you be staying? We only have one extra room, but the rest of us need to talk about rooming arrangements now that things have changed so much…" She trailed off and looked to Esme.

I found it interesting that she seemed like the perfect mother and Carlisle the perfect father, but they weren't mates.

"Well," Esme started, "Carlisle may have our room. Bella can move in there now. I'll move to the guest room and you two can choose who to stay with. I'm afraid you'll each have to share with one of us. Either of you are welcome to my room." She looked to Perry and me.

Wow. It seemed they used to be mates. I guess there HAD been a lot of changes for them recently.

Alice spoke up. "Lola can share with Edward. He has plenty of space."

"Thank you Edward. I would like that." I smiled at him. I was really starting to like him. I noticed the sly look that passed between Alice and Bella. They were up to something.

"And Perry can room with me if that's alright." Esme said and Perry nodded and smiled at her. It seemed I wasn't the only one who was starting to get attached.

*************************************************************************************

BPOV

Suddenly, Alice spaced out and then snapped back to reality, squealing. Edward smiled. She must have seen something good.

"Let's go!" Alice ordered. "Family shopping trip NOW!"

Lola and I both groaned, and then smiled at each other. It looked like she liked shopping just about as much as I did.

Alice put her hands on her hips and glared at us defiantly. "We need new wardrobes for Perry and Lola. And besides, PROM is next week! We all need outfits! Everyone is going except Esme and Perry cuz they're too old! But they'll be going out to 'dinner' and a show, so they still need outfits!"

"Alice, I'm not going to a high school dance. I'm supposed to be a 24 year old doctor and Bella's godfather. She and I will just have to do something else." Carlisle said.

I pouted. "Awww come on Carlisle, I want to go! I've never been to a dance before!" I whined.

"We used to go to them all the time." He replied.

"But that was in the 1700s! This is high school!"

"No. And that's final." He said firmly.

"Fine." I said and walked over to him and sat on his lap facing him. Then I started kissing him just below his earlobe. I kissed all the way down his neck and then back up again. "How about now?"

"No." He was trying to resist me but I knew he couldn't. And I planned to use that.

I trailed my lips along his jaw and stopped right next to his mouth, teasing him. "How about now?"

"Uh no?" he said, but it sounded like a question and his hands were on my waist now, holding me there.

I kissed his lips slowly. His tongue traced my bottom lip, but I pulled back and looked at him with my best puppy dog face.

"Please?" I asked quietly.

He sighed. "Fine."

"YAY! Thank you Carlie! It's gonna be so much fun!"

He rolled his eyes. "We're not going if you call me that." He warned.

I kissed him again excitedly. This time I was just about to let him into my mouth when I heard a loud cough. Trust Emmett to ruin the moment. I pulled back and sighed.

"Sorry to break this up, but do you realize how awkward this is for me? My baby sister is making out with my dad! Weird!" He said, laughing.

If I could blush, my face would be bright red. I had completely forgotten the family was watching us. I glanced at Edward, but he was smiling at Lola. Esme was looking fondly at us and holding Perry's hand.

"Uh… oops?" I said.

"Carlie?! I'm SO calling you that from now on!" Emmett said to Carlisle.

Carlisle groaned. "Why did you have to get him started?! He'll never forget that!"

I grinned sheepishly. "I repeat: oops?"

"Now that that's settled, can we PLEASE go shopping?!" Alice was starting to get impatient. That's never good.

So little Alice proceeded to drag us forcibly to the mall in Seattle. This should be fun. Not.

*************************************************************************************

It had been FOUR HOURS at the mall, and we STILL weren't done! At least I had used that time to get to know Perry and Lola better. I really liked them both and I definitely noticed how attracted Lola and Edward and Esme and Perry were to each other.

All we had left to get were dresses for prom. But this could still take a few more hours.

Apparently Lola would enroll at Forks High School on Monday and would be attending the dance with Edward. We would tell them that Lola was my sister. And that Edward and I broke up, so there would be no issues when he and Lola got together. Which I had a feeling was going to happen soon.

Yay! I was so happy they were happy together. Neither of them had made any big moves, but they were perfect for each other and it was only a matter of time.

Anyway, the guys all had basic tuxedos at this point, slightly different for each of them. Emmett's was a black jacket with a red vest and tie. Jasper had a black jacket with a silver vest and bow tie. Perry got a black jacket with a deep purple vest and tie. Edward had a white jacket with a black vest and tie. And Carlisle's was the classic black jacket with a white shirt and black bow tie. Very James Bond.

And a few hours later, the girls all had perfect dresses too. Rosalie was stunning in a short red dress with wide straps. Alice was... Alice in a strapless, calf length, white dress with black polka dots and a black belt. Lola wore a short hot pink dress with one shoulder strap and a black belt. Esme had a knee length deep purple dress with spaghetti straps. And I got a long, deep blue ruched dress with spaghetti straps.

Alice wouldn't let the guys see until the night of prom, so it would be a surprise.

And then before I knew it, it _was_ prom night, and I was in Alice's HUGE bathroom while she got me ready.

I sat in the bathroom and complained while Alice fixed my hair and makeup. She didn't let me look in the mirror until she was done and when she allowed me to, I was shocked. I had never thought of myself as pretty, either as a human or a vampire. I was always plain, but the girl I saw in the mirror that night was beautiful.

The dress emphasized my curves and made my figure look great. Alice had curled my hair and put it in a high ponytail with loose ends hanging around my face. She kept my makeup mostly natural, highlighting my features. I wore silver stilettos and bracelets. I was also wearing the diamond heart earrings and necklace Carlisle gave to me for my 18th birthday. He would be happy about that.

I had to admit Alice did a great job. I looked like a high school girl, but still modest – well, more modest than the others. What can I say? I'm an old lady at heart.

The guys were waiting for us downstairs by the bottom of the staircase. Rosalie walked down first and was met by Emmett's slack-jawed expression. She smiled and kissed him. Her hair was elegantly pinned up and she had more makeup than me and gold heels and jewelry. She looked amazing, as usual.

Alice bounced down the steps and into Jasper's waiting arms, kissing his cheek as he stared at her in awe. Her hair was straight for once and it reached her jaw. She kept her own makeup simple and had black flats.

Esme was gorgeous in her dress with short gold heels and jewelry. Her hair was loose and curly. She stepped downstairs gently and smiled as Perry took her hand and kissed her cheek.

Lola walked down and calmly went to stand beside Edward. His eyes widened as he took her in. Her dress looked perfect, with black heels and silver jewelry, and her makeup was almost nonexistent. Her hair fell straight down her back.

I took a deep breath and slowly descended the huge staircase. I had the satisfaction of seeing Carlisle's eyes widen and his mouth fall open slightly as he looked at me. I smiled and snapped his mouth shut with my finger. I kissed his cheek and he wrapped his arm around my waist.

He touched my necklace lightly with his fingers. "You still have this?" He asked quietly.

"Of course! It was a present from my favorite vampire. How could I get rid of it?" I said and Alice cleared her throat. "My favorite vampire _at the time_" I amended. He chuckled and kissed me gently.

"Okay let's go!" Alice squealed.

I thought I would have fun, but little did I know that this would be one of the best nights of my existence.  
**  
Links for the dresses are on my profile if you want to see what I was thinking!**


	8. prom up!

**sorry it took me so long! but i have two chapters to make up for it! this one is kinda short but the next one will be longer i promise. **

BPOV

Perry and Esme went off on their date, and the rest of us headed to the high school. Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice took Rose's BMW and the rest of us drove in Carlisle's Mercedes. Carlise drove, and he was fidgeting the entire time.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "You're not actually nervous, are you?"

"Yes, I am, Bella. I don't know how to act around teenagers."

I believed he was nervous about that, but that didn't seem like the whole story. He was hiding something from me.

I looked back at Edward and he grinned mischievously at me. He was turning out to be a great big brother, now that Lola was here.

I turned back to Carlisle, but he gave me an innocent look and Edward laughed. I narrowed my eyes at them suspiciously, but I couldn't pursue the matter, seeing as we just pulled up at the school.

Carlisle got out and opened my door for me. He kept his hand at the small of my back as we entered the building, but we had to be sure to stay un-intimate since he was supposed to be my godfather. The town knew that he and Esme officially divorced, though.

We walked in and everyone turned to stare at us. I sighed, wishing we weren't all so beautiful to human eyes. It got annoying.

My human friends, Jessica and Angela, waved me over to where they were standing and talking. I smiled and went to talk to them.

"Oh my god! You look great as usual!" Jessica squealed. I grinned.

"Thanks. So do you guys! Watch out, Mike and Ben!" I said to their dates, winking. "Someone might just steal them away from you!"

They laughed. "So you're here with your godfather? Isn't that kind of weird? You can't tell me no one asked you to come with them!" Angela said.

"Well, some guys asked me, but not the right one. And it's not weird, we've always been very close." I replied.

And then Carlisle came up behind me and grabbed my waist, scaring the crap out of me. I jumped and shrieked, turning around and hitting his chest lightly. "Jerk." I muttered and everyone laughed.

"Come on, let's dance. Isn't that why you dragged me here in the first place?" He said, and I grinned.

"Okay, okay, let's go!" I waved to my friends and we went onto the dance floor.

Carlisle bowed slightly and looked at me, smiling slightly, eyes twinkling. "Would you do me the honor of dancing with me Miss Swan?" He asked politely, his voice a deep velvet purr. He put on his old British accent as he repeated the first words he ever said to me.

I covered my smile with my hand and cast my eyes down, like any proper young lady. "Why of course, sir." I said, with my old accent, curtsying, and we both laughed. Alice smiled as she twirled past us with Jasper.

Carlisle put one hand on my waist and held out this other for mine. I placed one on his shoulder and the other in his. And we danced. Just like old times. Everything was perfect, right out of a movie.

*************************************************************************************

A few hours later, I had satisfactorily fulfilled my desire to go to prom with Carlisle. He had relaxed a bit since we got there, but still seemed a little apprehensive about something.

I looked up at him. "Ready to go? I think I've had enough of prom to last me a while."

"Sure. Let's go home. I kind of have a surprise for you." He didn't meet my eyes as we said our goodbyes and left. He didn't even look at me for the drive home, though I watched him suspiciously.

When we reached the house, he opened my door and led me inside and up to our room. He still wasn't looking at me though and I was getting frustrated. He knew how much I hated surprises. We sat on the bed, and he STILL wouldn't look at me! So I climbed onto him and kissed him passionately. It was starting to get heated a few minutes later, when he suddenly pulled away and got off the bed.

"What are you doing?" I asked, confused. _I_ was always the one to pull away, not him.

"Something I should have done 300 years ago." He muttered.

And then he knelt down. And pulled a small box out of his jacket. And opened it.

Oh. My. God.

"Isabella Marie Swan, I have loved you since the first time I saw you and I promise to keep loving you until the end of time. Will you marry me?"

I stood there, in shock, for a few moments. But then I snapped out of it and realized he was getting more and more nervous. He actually thought I would refuse?!

I smiled so hugely I thought my face would break. I was trying to come up with something perfect to say, but my mind was blank. So I stuck with tradition.

"Yes. _Yes._ YES! Of course I will! I love you so much!" I said excitedly and practically attacked him. I kissed him urgently, only stopping to take off his jacket and shirt. I traced the muscles of his chest and stomach lightly with my hands. We had ended up on the bed somehow. Carlisle's mouth moved to my neck and he slowly kissed his way down.

He paused as he reached the top of my dress and looked up at me to see if I was okay with this. I smiled and said, "It's okay. It doesn't hurt as much to think about what happened now that I'm with you again."

He grinned. "I love you Bella." He said simply.

"I love you too, Carlisle." I replied happily.

And we didn't need any more words after that.

*************************************************************************************

BPOV

This was heaven. It felt so amazing to just lie here with him. Not even talking. I drew random patterns on his chest and he rubbed my back gently as I lay on top of him. We were still the only ones in the house. So nothing could ruin this moment.

That is, until _Emmett_ burst through the door of our room.

"Hey Bel- OH MY GOD! EW!" He yelled, and ran out, slamming the door behind him.

I sighed. "Sounds like the others are home."

He chuckled. "It does appear that way. We should go down."

I sighed again heavily and got off the bed. I threw on some old jeans and a long sleeve shirt. Carlisle got up too and put on jeans and a t-shirt too. We walked downstairs holding hands and smiling happily.

Everyone was seated in the living room, watching us as we entered the room. Emmett looked disgusted, and Edward a little upset, but the others just curious. Apparently he hadn't told them how he found us.

"Uh… hey guys! This is awkward. Why is everyone sitting in here and staring at us?" I asked nervously.

"Well, we were sort of wondering why Emmett looks so traumatized, but first don't you have some news to tell us?!" Alice said excitedly, bouncing in her chair. Of course she would have seen it. But why did she want us to tell the whole family what just happened upstairs? That was kind of… personal.

My eyes widened. "Um no thanks!" I said quickly.

Carlisle chuckled. "I don't think she meant _that_ Bella. We're engaged." He told the family.

"Oh right!" I said, extremely relieved.

Everyone smiled and congratulated us. Except Emmett. Everyone else was hugging us, but he stood off to the side until everyone else was done. He was famous for his bear hugs, but he was staying far away from us now.

He carefully reached out his hand and I shook it, laughing at how scared he was. He really _was_ traumatized!

"I'm afraid I'll never be able to look at you the same way Carlisle. I am truly scarred for life." He said solemnly and Carlisle and I both laughed.

Alice opened her mouth to speak, looking very confused, but Edward cut her off.

"Don't ask. You really don't want to know." He looked halfway between disgusted and mad.

I looked at him apologetically, but he just smiled slightly and turned away.

I brushed it off turned back to Alice, who was talking to me.

"Okay, for the rest of the weekend the guys are going on a hunting trip somewhere up in Canada. And we're having a girls' weekend!"

"Okaaaaaay… what exactly does a 'girls' weekend' involve?" I asked suspiciously.

"Oh my gosh you've never had a girls' weekend with me before! We watch movies and talk about everything and play games and embarrass each other and talk about guys and just have so much fun!" She squealed.

Now I was _really_ nervous.

**Review!!**


	9. dares

**this is my longest chapter yet! yay! some people asked for some angst and problems with the couples. so i think this chapter is leading toward a little bit of that. hope you like it!**

BPOV

It was time.

The guys were leaving and the girls' weekend was officially starting as soon as they were gone.

I sighed and hugged Carlisle. I hadn't been separated from him for more than a day since we were reunited. I buried my face in his chest and tried to cover myself in his scent, so it wouldn't leave me.

He lifted my chin up with his finger and made me look at him. He leaned down and kissed me briefly, but still sweetly. I smiled half-heartedly.

"Wish me luck." I said, rolling my eyes at Alice, who was trying to shove all the other guys out the door.

He laughed. "Good luck! You're going to need it."

"I'll miss you." I said, smiling sadly.

"I'll miss you too sweetie. But I'll be back on Sunday night. I love you."

"I love you too!" I called just as Alice pushed him out the door and slammed it behind him.

"Okay! It's officially girl time!" She shrieked and smiled devilishly.

Oh no. Kill me now.

*************************************************************************************

"Alright! Enough sitting around! Time for… truth or dare!" Alice commanded.

We had just finished watching Gone With the Wind and crying tearlessly, but Alice had enough of that. She was taking charge and had us all sit in a circle on the floor.

"I'm going first!" Alice said and looked around at all of us. "Hmmm… Rose! Truth or dare?"

"Dare." She said bravely, but I could tell she was more than a bit nervous about what Alice would make her do.

"I dare you to… Go to the mall and make a scene until you have to be forcibly removed from the area by security guards!"

Rose gasped. She hated making scenes or embarrassing herself in any way. But she knew she couldn't argue. So she defiantly stood up and we all went out to her car. She drove us to the mall and went into her favorite shoe store. She sighed and then walked up to the counter, stomping her feet loudly.

"I need these in an 8! NOW!" She demanded impatiently.

The saleswoman looked flustered. "Well, if you'll hold on just a minute, I'll see if I can get that for you."

"NO! I said I wanted it now! What kind of business are you running here?!"

"I don't run this business miss. But if you'll calm down for a moment, I'll see about that size." The poor girl looked terrified.

"Then I demand to see the person who _is_ running this business. This is unacceptable service!"

The manager walked out of the back room. "What is going on here?!" He asked angrily.

"The service at your store is unacceptable! I have asked _repeatedly_ for these shoes in a size 8, and your employee simply doesn't understand what I mean by that!"

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave if you insist on yelling at my employees and making a scene." He said calmly.

"FINE! I'LL GO SOMEWHERE THAT APRECIATES MY BUSINESS!" Rose screamed, and stormed off. We had watched this whole thing from outside the store and were cracking up laughing.

Rose gave us a death glare as she stomped past to the pet store across the hall. She walked right in and took a fish out of one of the fishbowls. Then she walked right back out, ignoring the protests of the workers, and went straight over to the fountain in the middle of the area.

Then, talking to the fish in a baby voice, she proceeded to drop it in the fountain and 'play' with it, mostly just pushing it around through the water.

After a few minutes of this, Rosalie pulled the fish back out and brought it back into the store and dropped it back in its tank. Then she strode over to the counter and glared at the salesman.

"This fish did not play with me! That is simply despicable that you would carry fish like that. At least have the decency to get respectable fish that actually _do_ something!" She yelled.

"Miss, excuse me, but you just stole that fish, and you are now _criticizing_ our store's quality?"

"That is absolutely right." Rose replied.

"You need to leave now miss or I will call security."

Finally! Rose planted her hands on her hips and stared menacingly at the man.

"You will WHAT?! I don't think so! You know what? I'll help you out and leave myself!"

And she stormed off yet again. By now a crowd had formed and someone had called security. The manager of the first store and the second one were both talking to a guard and pointing at Rose. He adjusted his belt with his gun and walked over to Rosalie.

"Ma'am, I hear you've been stirring up a lot of trouble around here. I'm going to have to ask you to come with me." He said solemnly.

"Excuse me?! I'VE been causing trouble?! You know what? No! I will NOT come with you!" She was screaming at him now.

Three more guards came over, and they proceeded to drag Rosalie away, kicking and screaming the entire time. They left her in the parking lot and told her she would not be allowed in that mall for the next thirty days.

We came out of the shadows laughing our asses off as soon as the guards were gone.

"That – was – so – AWESOME!" Alice choked out between laughs.

Eventually we calmed down, with Rose glaring at us. We got back in the car and drove home, still giggling every once in a while.

But then we all fell silent as we realized it was Rose's turn to pick…

*************************************************************************************

She scanned our faces, and finally her eyes rested on Esme. "Hi Esme. So, truth or dare?" Her voice was sickly sweet and innocent and she smiled angelically.

"Um… truth?" Esme looked very scared. I would be too.

"Aw, that's no fun! Fine, but anyone who picks truth has to answer _two_ questions, because dares are so much more embarrassing. First question: how do you feel about Perry?" That evilly sweet smile was back.

Esme looked so embarrassed as she glanced at Lola and then looked down at the floor. "Well… he's very a wonderful person. And I'm quite attracted to him, I admit. Yes, I like him very much. And… I think I'm in great danger of falling in love with him."

We all smiled at each other, already plotting ways to get them together, while Esme studied the floor intently. Finally, she looked up and we all burst into giggles again.

"That's so cute! Now, second question…" Rose continued, "hmmm… oh I have one! Do you ever get jealous of Bella? Now that's she's with Carlisle. I mean, no offense Bella, but you did kind of steal her man. But anyway, especially after what I think might possibly have happened between them last night, are you jealous?"

It was my turn to look down and be embarrassed now. She was right. I completely stole Esme's husband from her. And I was very embarrassed at the thought of them knowing about last night.

Esme sighed. "Yes, I suppose I am sometimes jealous. But not really. And I know you're thinking about how much you ruined my life and blaming yourself for everything right now Bella. But truly, it's not your fault. It was going to happen sometime anyway and you two deserve each other. Besides, I think I could be very happy with Perry. So don't blame yourself at all. And I do feel a little jealous occasionally, but it's not of the fact that you got Carlisle. Only of what you two share and have together. Not many people are lucky enough to have the sort of connection you two do. I only hope that I can be that lucky someday."

I smiled up at her, and she returned it affectionately.

"Okay. Esme's turn!" Alice squealed again. She did that a lot.

"Alright, Lola. Truth or dare?"

"Um, truth." She looked a bit scared, but I knew Esme was too nice to do anything that embarrassing or mean.

"First question: has anything happened between you and Edward yet?"

We all held our breath as we excitedly awaited the answer. Everyone knew it was coming, so had it happened yet?

"Well, he sort of… kissed me after prom last night." She looked away as we all shrieked and squealed with excitement.

"It's about damn time!" I yelled and everyone else nodded.

"Wait, _that's_ what's been going on lately? You were trying to get us together?!"

So she did know we were up to something. I grinned sheepishly.

"GUYS!" She yelled, but we could all tell she was happy.

"Can you blame us? Second question… well what did you think? Are you happy about that?" Esme asked Lola.

She sighed happily. "Wow. Just wow. I'm so happy, I can't even tell you. He's everything I ever hoped for in a guy, and so much more. And he's an amazing kisser too."

I looked away and bit my lip. Yes, _I_ had broken_ his_ heart, but I had to admit it still hurt a little bit.

Lola noticed. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry Bella! I didn't mean to say that! I promise, if you don't want me to be with him, I'll stay away!"

"No, no! It's not that! I dumped him for his 'dad', remember? It's just… weird. Don't get me wrong, I love Carlisle, and I'm glad Edward has you, I really am." I smiled at her and she relaxed a little.

"If you're sure… Anyway, Alice! Truth or dare?"

"Dare!" Of course. I hoped Lola had something good.

"Okay… I dare you to… let Bella and I dress you for a week! And yes, you do have to go out in public! But I promise we won't be _too_ bad."

Alice's look of horror made this whole game all worth the embarrassment. She looked truly terrified. I didn't blame her. Mine and Lola's idea of a normal outfit consisted or jeans and a t-shirt, while Alice's usually involved French designers.

I gave Lola a high-five. "Good one!" I said, laughing at Alice's expression of horror that was frozen on her face.

"Don't worry Alice. It won't be too bad, I swear!" I said to her.

She zoned out for a minute and then came back to reality with an evil smile on her face as she turned to me.

"So Bella? Truth or dare?"

I was scared of the dare, but even more petrified at the thought of the questions they would ask me, especially after they knew something big happened last night. So I decided to suck it up and go with a good old dare.

"Dare." I said defiantly, bracing myself for the embarrassment that was to come.

She smirked and said, "I dare you to let _me_ dress you in _whatever _I want, and then go around to all the most crowded places in Forks and flirt _shamelessly_ with_ every _guy you see, with the exception of old men and little kids."

I must have looked absolutely horrified. The girls all burst out laughing at my expression, so it must have been really priceless.

This wasn't fair at all! Alice knew how modest I was and how much I hated being the center of attention, or really having any attention at all. This was just downright _mean_.

"No! Alice don't do this to me! You know how I am! And come on, I haven't flirted with a guy since the first time I met Carlisle. And let me tell you, things were different in those days! Girls nowadays are just _throwing_ themselves at guys! Back in my day, we were a bit more subtle and ladylike about it."

They were all laughing at me again. I may have looked like an eighteen year old girl, but I was really over 300 years old, and I sounded like an old geezer just then.

Alice started dragging me upstairs to her room. I complained, but I knew it would get a whole lot worse if I didn't do it, so I decided to go along with it for now. But this was going to be SO embarrassing!

Alice dove into her closet and eventually came out with what looked like a blue handkerchief to me. It turned out that it was supposed to be a dress! She forced it onto me and I could tell how tiny it was without even looking in the mirror, which I was very scared to do. But Alice made me turn around and look at myself. I was shocked. How could I ever be seen in such a thing? This was ridiculous! I tried in vain to pull it down over my thighs and also up over my chest, but I didn't have any effect on how incredibly skimpy it was.

"ALICE!" I said slightly hysterically. I was panicking now.

"Oh, just do it Bella! It'll be good I promise! Trust me; I know it will be fun – or at least funny! For _us_ that is!" She tapped her head knowingly. This did _not_ make me feel any better!

"Ooh let's start at the hospital! Cuz then the people will tell Carlisle you were there and that will be _hilarious_!" She squealed.

I sighed, knowing arguing was futile. And we headed off. They only let me wear a little jacket over the dress, but it didn't even cover anything up!

We pulled up at the hospital and I started to walk inside. But Rose stopped me just before the door.

"You've got to do the whole thing, Bella. Sway your hips when you walk and hold your head up." She said evilly, obviously wanting to torture someone else to make up for her humiliation.

I glared at her, but walked inside slowly, swaying my hips and holding my head up like she said. I sauntered over to the front desk, because there was a young guy working as the secretary. He looked about 20 and he was blond and actually kind of cute. I leaned over the desk, and his eyes immediately went to my chest.

I rolled my eyes but smiled flirtatiously and said, "I need to see Dr. Cullen please."

His face fell a bit and he muttered something about Carlisle getting all the hot ones. But he smiled back and said, "I'm sorry, but he isn't in today. Is there _anything_ else I can do to help you though?" He sounded hopeful.

"Actually yes, there is. Could you show me to his office please? I need to leave him something. He won't mind. And maybe you can give me a little tour of the building while we're at it. I have a feeling I'm going to be spending a _lot_ of time here." I smiled seductively and he was staring at me open-mouthed.

"Would that be alright? I mean I could always ask someone else…" I continued when he stayed silent. And I looked around the room for other guides, but he snapped out of his thoughts.

"Sorry, of course I would be more than willing to assist you!" He jumped up eagerly and came over to me. I linked my arm through his and he led me out of the entrance.

As we walked away, I saw Alice, Rose, Esme, and Lola watching and laughing with a video camera, filming everything. I glared and Alice gave me a thumbs-up. "Nice job!" She mouthed.

I flicked my hair back and returned my attention to the guy who was showing me around. "I didn't get your name." I said sweetly.

"Oh, it's Alex. And you?"

"Bella Swan. Pleasure to meet you." I smiled wider. Poor guy. His heart sounded in danger of failing. He was talking about the hospital and I nodded like I was listening.

Just then he opened the door to Carlisle's office. We entered and I chuckled. It reflected Carlisle perfectly. Old furniture, simple and spacious, the only decorations some pictures on the desk of the family.

The only odd thing was the person – or vampire – sitting in a chair by the desk. He was very tall and built with black hair and black eyes. He smiled slightly as we entered, and looked at me as if he knew me. He seemed familiar, and I knew exactly why. He looked just like _him_, but that was impossible. I saw _his_ body. And he was only looking at me like that because he knew I was a vampire, right? It couldn't be him. I was just paranoid.

I shook my head to clear it and remembered the deal. ALL guys close to my age. He counted. So I smiled and said, "Can I help you with something? Anything?"

"I'm here to see Dr. Cullen, but I heard he was out today." He replied, smiling back, though it seemed a little sinister.

"Yes, so did I. Well then, what shall we do until he returns?" I asked, smiling seductively at Alex.

"I have a few ideas." The vampire said, looking me up and down.

"Oh really? Me too, but first may I ask who you are and how you know Dr. Cullen?"

"My name is Jake. I knew Carlisle once, a very long time ago." He said mysteriously.

I stiffened. So what if his name was similar? I needed to relax.

I shook my head again and nodded. Then I released Alex's arm and walked over to the desk. I opened the top drawer and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper. I leaned over the desk, letting them look down my dress a little bit. I wrote a quick note to Carlisle, saying that I came by to see him. I left it on the desk and straightened, turning around.

Just then, three doctors came into the room, but stopped short when they saw me. I smiled at them, and their heartbeats sped up.

"Hi boys. We were just trying to decide what to do until Carlisle comes in. Would you like to join us?"

One of them nodded numbly and they entered the room completely. One of them dropped some papers on the desk, and I decided to get comfortable while I was stuck here. So I went over to Jake and sat down on his lap. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't complain.

"So, Jake, where are you from?" I asked, looking up at him through my eyelashes.

"Europe actually. But I just moved here for business I'm staying in a hotel in Seattle until I find a place to live. I know some people in the area, and figured I'd stop by and see Carlisle today." He said.

"Oh, how interesting. Well I live with him, so maybe you should come home with me and see him when he gets back. And if you're looking for a place to stay…" I trailed off and ran a hand down his chest.

And then someone cleared their throat. I winced and turned slowly.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

**tell me what you think!**


	10. Jacob Black

BPOV

I turned to face a VERY angry Carlisle watching me flirt with Jake. Oops.

I quickly jumped off Jake's lap and walked over to Carlisle, trying to act casual, though I was anything but calm.

"Carlisle!" I said sweetly, trying to tell him it wasn't real with my eyes. "I came by to see you, but you weren't here. So I figured I would leave you a note, because I couldn't reach you on your cell phone. Alice and I needed something. And we thought you said you would be here today…" I trailed off as I noticed the lying was making even angrier.

He wordlessly took off his jacket and put it on me, attempting to cover up some of what the revealing dress left exposed. Then he nodded stiffly at the other men in the room and practically dragged me out of the room by my arm.

As we left the building, I saw Alice, Rose, Esme, and Lola watching nervously. I grimaced at them.

When we got in the car, I turned to him and said, "I swear it wasn't real! Alice dared me to and I had to and-"

But he cut me off. "Save it Bella" He growled.

I closed my mouth and stared out the window silently for the rest of the ride. When we got home, I started to run to the forest, trying to give him some space, but he grabbed my arm again.

He pulled me into the house, where we found the rest of the family sitting and looking nervously at us. The guys had already returned – Edward probably heard our thoughts and brought them back.

I sighed. "Carlisle, you're hurting me." I said quietly. He released my arm.

"What the hell was that?" He growled at Alice.

I sighed again. "I already told you, it was a dare. I don't see why you're acting like this."

"Why am I acting like this? I don't know Bella, maybe because I just went to pick up something in my office and found you all over some guy who looked _exactly_ like-" He yelled, but I cut him off.

"You don't think I realized who he looked like Carlisle?" I yelled back, angry now. "I think I remember _him_!It's kind of hard not to notice someone when they're _raping _you!"

"Stop!" He snarled. He stood there silently for a minute, calming himself before continuing. "You need to be more careful, Bella. You never know what could happen." He said gently, eyes closed.

He was so infuriatingly _calm_. I wanted him to yell at me, hit me, or just _do _something!

"_Excuse me?" _I hissed furiously. "_NOW_ you're worried about my safety?!"

He flinched, hurt by that, but I didn't care. I glared at him and he crossed his arms over his chest.

He clenched his jaw and tried to control himself. "Isabella." He growled. "I tried to protect you. And I'm still trying to. But you're making that pretty difficult right now. You were just throwing yourself at some guy who could do the same thing to you as _him_. Do you want that to happen again?!"

"I'm indestructible now, Carlisle. The only one who can really hurt me anymore is _you_. And don't you _dare_ talk to me like a child. As much as we both wish you were sometimes, you are NOT my father."

"You're right. I'm not. Your _father_ let that bastard do that to you. I protected you."

That was it. He had crossed the line. I drew my hand back and slapped him across the face as hard as I could. His face snapped to the side and he staggered back at the impact.

"Well you were a LITTLE late, weren't you?!" I shouted. He stayed silent and unmoving, not looking at me.

Then I realized what I had just done. "I'm sorry." I whispered, looking down.

I glanced at my stunned family once, and ran out to the trees as fast as I could.

*************************************************************************************

I just made it to my favorite little clearing in the trees when I broke down. I collapsed and dry sobbed, hugging Carlisle's jacket to my chest. I couldn't believe I had just done that. He was only trying to protect me!

But he went too far. We both knew how much it hurt me to remember _that night._ And blaming it on my father was inexcusable. So this was really his fault we had that fight, wasn't it?

I battled with myself for a while before I felt someone enter my little clearing. I figured it was Carlisle and I was sobbing too hard to check the scent. So I stayed still while he approached me. He sat beside me and rubbed my back soothingly.

"It's alright, Bella, it'll be okay." A voice said, but it wasn't Carlisle's.

My head snapped up and I locked eyes with Jake, from the hospital – the mysterious old friend of Carlisle's. I forgot he was in town what with all the drama. We would need to speak to him as a coven about hunting and such.

I smiled slightly. "Hi Jake. Look, I'm sorry about before. My sister Alice dared me to do this whole thing, but then Carlisle showed up and he's my fiancé, so… anyway, sorry. That was a little awkward." I said, embarrassed.

He chuckled, but it somehow seemed sinister. I had to admit I was a little scared of him.

"Um, should we go back to my house? We should discuss hunting in the area. We have a permanent residence, so if we could ask you to refrain from killing anyone around here, that would be great. And maybe you can stay for a bit and get to know the family?" I said, trying to get us back to where we wouldn't be alone. He just reminded me too much of _him_.

He chuckled again and stroked my hair gently. "Oh I already know you, Isabella. I'm insulted you don't remember me. We were so… _close_ before." He whispered and I froze.

"Ja-Jacob Black?" I stuttered, terrified now.

"That's right Bella. I tracked your friend Carlisle down to have a little 'chat' with him, but I never guessed you would be here too. And you just made things so much more fun and easy when you threw yourself at me and then got in that fight and came here all _alone_. See, I missed you Bella. We always had so much _fun_ together."

I tried to get up and run, but he held me down and he was much stronger than me. Then I started to scream but he clamped a hand over my mouth. "Don't even try to get your little 'family' to come for help, or I will kill them." Jacob murmured threateningly.

That shut me up and I stayed still while he started to kiss me. I didn't know how powerful he was or if he could hurt my family, but I didn't want to find out. When his hands started to go under my shirt though, I kicked him and ran. But he dove and caught me.

"Tricky, Bella. You always were a feisty one. I like my women like that." He whispered in my ear and I shuddered. "But if you know what's good for you and your family, you won't fight me."

He continued where he left off, tearing off my tiny dress, leaving my in just my bra and panties in front of him. His eyes looked me over approvingly and he smiled. I shuddered again, remembering _that_ night.

Jacob kissed me again, hands tracing my body, as he lay on top of me and I tried not to gag. I had shut down by now, not responding to anything, giving in and letting him do whatever he wanted o me. I knew I should try to fight back, but I was just trying to make this as quick and easy as possible.

Jake obviously had different plans for me though. His hands slowly moved over my chest and downward, drawing everything out. His shirt was off now and his jeans unbuttoned. Just as his fingers reached the top of my panties, he was thrown off of me and across the clearing.

I jumped up quickly and turned to see an absolutely furious Carlisle giving Jacob a death glare. The rest of my family came up behind him as he moved over to where Jacob was getting off the ground. I backed away toward my family, but I was too ashamed to look at them so I wrapped my arms around myself and looked down.

I looked up as I heard Jacob speaking to Carlisle. Carlisle had his hand wrapped around Jacob's neck, but Jacob still laughed and looked at him contemptuously.

"Jealous, are we Carlisle? Because _I _can still get her to have sex with me?" He sneered.

"It's been a long time Jacob Black. But never fear I haven't forgotten our last meeting." Carlisle said, ignoring him completely.

"You mean when you walked in on me fucking her and reduced me to the verge of death? Oh, I remember too. When I left her house that day, I happened upon some hungry vampires. But not hungry enough to kill me. One of them wanted to keep me. And I've been looking for you ever since. See I've wanted to settle the score between us. First, I find out the little whore was cheating on me with her bloodsucking boy toy, and then when I try to get her back, you nearly kill me. I have to say I'm not very happy with you at the moment Carlisle."

I finally got up the courage to speak. "_Cheating_ on you?! I think I made it pretty clear I didn't want to see you any more, Jacob. And don't you dare say anything like that to Carlisle. He's ten times the man you'll ever be." I said with as much venom as possible.

Jacob just laughed again. "I suppose I did underestimate him. At the time, I didn't know what he was, or I never would have tried to fight him. And I never imagined he would actually have the guts to change you. So I apologize, _Dr._ Cullen." He spat out Carlisle's name like left a bad taste in his mouth.

Carlisle stayed silent, trying not to let it get to him.

"But it's interesting how I can _still_ do whatever I want with the little bitch and there's _still _no one there to stop me. Or 'protect' her, or whatever the hell you said it was you were doing." Jacob continued, laughing bitterly again.

That was the end of the line. Carlisle froze and his head snapped up to glare at Jacob.

He suddenly grabbed Jacob's shoulder with one hand and jerked his other away from where it still held his neck. Jacob's head came with it. It flew off and landed on the ground with a sickening thud, rolling for a moment before facing me directly, stuck in the same twisted laugh forevermore.

Carlisle stayed in the same position for a moment, as if not realizing what he had just done. Then he efficiently pulled the rest of Jacob's body apart and lit a fire, destroying him.

He kept his back turned to me the entire time, but finally had no choice but to face me, though he didn't meet my eyes.

"Are you alright?" He asked me, calm as always but still tense.

"I'm fine." I whispered, though I was shaking uncontrollably. I was looking at the ground, and hugging my abdomen tightly, trying to keep myself together.

He started to move toward me but I stayed where I was. He reached his arms out to me. "Please don't touch me." I whispered, though it broke my heart to say it.

He dropped his arms and backed away. I refused to look up, knowing it would only make me feel worse. But I was too scared to let any man touch me right now. It brought back too many memories.

To my surprise, Rosalie quickly came over and wrapped her arms around me. Then I remembered - she knew exactly what I felt right now. I sobbed into her shoulder, shaking as she rubbed my back gently.

"It's alright honey. He's gone. Don't worry. He can't hurt you anymore. I'm here. Just let it all out." She said soothingly.

After a long while, I was finally cried out and I pulled away slowly from Rose, half-smiling at her gratefully. I slowly turned to face Carlisle, still shaking.

I looked up at him and what I saw made me feel awful. He looked absolutely tortured and my face crumpled as I looked at him.

"Carlisle." I whispered. "I'm so sorry. I understand if you hate me. I'm so disgusting." I said, furious with myself. I was disgusting it was true.

"Bella." He said in a broken voice. "You're the farthest thing from disgusting. _He's_ the sick one. It's not your fault at all that he chose you. And of course I don't hate you. I love you." He whispered the last part, looking straight into my eyes and I broke down again.

I ran to meet him as he moved toward me again and wrapped my arms around his waist as tightly as I could. He held me tightly, yet somehow still gently, as only Carlisle could.

I leaned into his chest and breathed in his sweet smell while he buried his face in my hair and did the same. "I love you so much." I choked out, sobbing a bit again.

He shushed me. "It's okay baby. I love you. I'm so glad you're okay. I promise I'll never let anyone hurt you again."

A little while later, I pulled away and smiled a genuine smile at him, stroking his face gently. But then I remembered he should be mad at me. "I'm so sorry Carlisle. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm awful."

"No honey. You were absolutely right about everything. I knew I shouldn't have said that, but I was so mad. At me, that is. I hate myself for letting him hurt you like he did. I can't believe I almost let it happen again. I tried to protect you, but I couldn't do it, like always."

"Carlisle." I said sternly, making him look at me. "Like always, you're blaming yourself when it wasn't your fault any more than it was mine, or I don't know… Alice's."

"Hey!" I heard from behind me and turned around, remembering my family was standing there. As usual, I completely forgot about everything else when I had these perfect moments with Carlisle. I smiled softly at them.

"I'm sorry everyone. I'm just a magnet for trouble as you can probably tell." I said, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Alice, Rose, Lola, and Esme rushed over to give me a group hug. "Bella we're just so glad you're okay." Alice said, sounding very relieved.

The guys started to approach me hesitantly, but I flinched and reached for Carlisle, who quickly wrapped his arms around me.

"Sorry guys. Just give me some time. It's… well, the feeling lingers." I felt awful, but they seemed to understand.

"Alright, let's get you some clothes." Carlisle said, changing the subject. I looked down and realized I was still just in my underwear. My eyes widened and I turned Carlisle around so he was between me and the other guys. This was sure embarrassing for my modest old lady self!

Carlisle chuckled and pulled me closer to him whispering in my ear, "I think you look pretty good just like that though."

I rolled my eyes and shoved him playfully. "Oh, shut up and give me your shirt!"

He laughed again and unbuttoned his shirt, handing it to me. I wrapped it around me like a robe (it was so big it reached my knees!) and smiled sheepishly at my family, who were all laughing at me.

"Thank you kindly, sir." I said with a British accent – it was another old joke between us.

Carlisle smiled and pulled me close again, kissing me very gently, like he was afraid of breaking or hurting me even more. I deepened it a little and traced my hands over his chest, enjoying the way his muscles tightened under my hands.

But, of course, someone (coughEMMETTcough) decided to once again RUIN the moment. I sighed and broke apart from Carlisle, hugging him tightly around the waist.

"Come on guys, I guess we have even _more_ explanations to give, Bella." Carlisle said, and I smiled sadly at him, taking his hand as we walked home slowly.

**What do you think? Did I rush the thing with Jake? Maybe that should have lasted longer… oh well! Review please!!!!! **


	11. I'm Yours

**Sorry it took so long, I've been busy. But I hope this makes up for it! Enjoy!**

BPOV

I got some clothes and then we all sat in our usual 'story time' spots in the living room. I leaned back against Carlisle and sighed, trying to figure out the best way to start this story. My family waited patiently for me to come up with the right words.

I took a deep breath and started. I slipped back into the language used in those days as I got into my story.

"Alright, here I go. You see, back in my day, it was not unusual for people to be intended for each other from birth. My parents had close friends, the Blacks, who had a son just a few years older than me. So when I was born, I was betrothed to Jacob Black. As I grew up, our parents tried harder and harder to get us closer. Neither of us was very willing, however. He was a teenage boy, only interested in playing and friends, not a little girl. And I was a young girl, not at all excited about spending time with an older boy.

"But soon enough, just like nowadays, we both matured, and our opinions of each other soon changed as we each saw how the other turned out. He was quite the handsome, charming young man, you see. And though I never considered myself anything out of the ordinary, I did get a lot of attention from the men around town.

"Anyway, he began courting me right around the time I met Carlisle. Although I was very interested in the handsome stranger I danced with, I didn't see Carlisle again for quite some time. So I gladly accepted Jacob's attentions. All my friends were very jealous of course. And I was happy with him. I wasn't in _love_ exactly, but I liked him very much and thought him to be a good person. You could say I was 'dating' him for a few months.

"During that time, I was also seeing Carlisle more and more, though only as friends. Jacob didn't like how much time I was spending with Carlisle. He suspected we were more than friends, and it was true I was falling in love with Carlisle, but I would never do anything improper, and neither would he. But if I spent a great deal of time with Carlisle, Jacob would get angry, and sometimes hit me. Not hard, and I was never seriously hurt, but it definitely hurt my self esteem. I thought myself unworthy, and not good enough to tell anyone or stand up for myself. So I took it quietly, and even Carlisle didn't know for a long time.

"Finally, one day, one of Jacob's friends reported to him that he saw Carlisle and I in an 'intimate position'. He only kissed my cheek in farewell because I wouldn't see him for a few days - he was going hunting. But that was thought very intimate for friends of opposite sexes, and Jacob's friend overreacted. Perhaps he just wanted to see Jacob's reaction and watch what he would do to Carlisle. You see, Carlisle was not well liked by the men of the area – all the girls fancied him above the others.

"Anyhow, when I returned home that day, I found Jacob waiting for me. Before I could protest, he had dragged me upstairs to the bedroom and was yelling at me that he had proof I was seeing Carlisle behind his back. When I retorted, he slapped me and started talking about how he would 'show that Cullen who I really belonged to'. And then he tried to… well I think you get the idea." I shuddered and stopped there, letting Carlisle take over this part of the story.

"I had forgotten that I was going to give Bella something, so I went to her house to call on her. Her father was there, he told me not to go upstairs, and that she would be down in a while. He clearly knew what was happening upstairs, but made no move to stop it, though he seemed worried and undecided about something. I heard a commotion upstairs, but when I started to go check on Bella, her father blocked me. He tried to punch me, but only ended up hurting himself. I quickly ran upstairs and entered the room just in time. I regret that my anger controlled my actions and I hurt Jacob more than I meant to. He left and I hadn't heard anything of him until today." Carlisle finished and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his chest protectively.

I curled up into him, still shaking. He stroked my hair and kissed my forehead gently. I calmed myself and smiled up at Carlisle. He grinned at me and I immediately felt better. It was amazing how one look could brighten my entire world, like I was looking at the sun for the first time in years.

I looked around to see the reaction of my family. Their expressions reflected their personalities perfectly. Emmett and Edward, my overprotective big brothers, looked furious. Esme looked like she just wanted to come give me a hug and comfort me. Perry and Jasper – my calmer brothers – were mad and sympathetic. And Alice, Rose, and Lola were halfway between wanting to hug me and cry with me, and kill someone.

"Wow. That's… wow. You've had a lot of tough things happens to you Bella." Alice commented.

"Yeah, I've had my fair share of grief. But know what? I don't care. Having you guys makes up for it completely." I smiled around at my family.

It was true.

"I used to dwell on how awful my life was and how sad I was all the time. But when I met Edward and found my family, it didn't matter anymore. At least, not in the same way it used to. I realized that you have to look at the bright side of things to live a happy life. The glass really is half full. And yes, a lot of terrible things have happened to me, but so have a lot of wonderful things. And now I have the love of my existence and the best family I could hope for. I am finally complete and happy."

Everyone was quiet for a minute, reflecting. Then Alice had to be Alice.

"Awww! Come here guys! I love you so much!" She squealed and pulled everybody into the middle of the room for a group hug. It was a touching, if very cheesy moment until Emmett had to be Emmett.

"Alright!" he boomed. "Enough mushiness! That was a touching family moment, but it's time for me to do what I do best and RUIN IT! So, who wants to wrestle?"

Everyone laughed. Then Alice got a faraway look in her eyes and grinned.

"Who's up for some baseball?"

*************************************************************************************

Carlisle and I were in our room, getting dressed for baseball. I had never played with them before, and I was very intrigued by the idea.

I think we both felt a little awkward. I mean, we were yelling at each other a few hours ago. And I _hit_ him. I still can't believe I did that. And then we immediately went to full on 'I love you' from there.

I felt like I should say something, apologize somehow, but I didn't know how to go about it. He wouldn't let me just say I'm sorry. He's Carlisle. He would be all 'it's not your fault', etc. He's so selfless, I envy him. But I'm just thankful that, by some miracle, this perfect angel of a man loves me and I get to have him forever. As long as I don't ruin it that is.

I sighed. "Look, Carlisle. I just… I don't know what I was thinking. I'm so sorry."

I held up my hand to silence him when he opened his mouth to protest.

"Let me finish. I can't believe I did that. It was so awful of me and I'm sorry. I just want you to know that I love you more than anything else in this world. I would never try to hurt you, but I know that I have quite a bit over the years. I can't believe someone like you actually loves me too, but you do, and I'm so thankful for that. So anyway, I love you and if you still want me, I want you to know that I'm yours. All that's left of me. I've always been hesitant about commitment, but I'm finally ready to give my entire self to you. If you want me, I'm yours."

I looked at Carlisle, trying to gauge his reaction. His face was unreadable and he was silent for a moment. And then he broke into a breathtaking grin.

"Bella, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to say that. I love you so much." He said and grabbed me around my waist, spinning me around and then kissing me passionately.

After a moment I pulled back and giggled at his ridiculous yet gorgeous smile. Wow. I don't giggle. I was just so happy with my life in general at the moment. Everything was as perfect as it could be as far as I was concerned.

He chuckled and then suddenly knocked my legs out from under me, catching me just before I hit the ground. I hit his chest playfully and glared at him as he picked me up bridal style. He laughed at my failed attempt to be mean to him and ran downstairs to meet the others.

When he didn't put me down, I looked up at him expectantly.

"Planning on putting me down anytime soon?" I asked.

"Nope. Never. Get used to it." He said teasingly and I laughed.

"That sounds okay with me." I said and laughed, reaching up to kiss him lightly.

"Alright lovebirds, that's enough. Time to put your game face on and get ready for some CULLEN BASEBALL!!!" Emmett yelled, grabbing me out of Carlisle's arms and running out the door, holding me tucked under his arm like a football.

I laughed and decided to just enjoy the ride. There was no use in fighting Emmett. So I waved to Carlisle, who had started running too, trying to catch up with us. He reached us and tackled Emmett, knocking us all to the ground in a big heap.

We were all laughing hysterically, clutching our sides and gasping for unneeded air. The rest of our family caught up to us and watched us, amused, as we rolled around laughing like crazy. Jasper ended up laughing as hysterically as us, and rolling on the ground too. Eventually, I calmed down and was about to get up when Carlisle grabbed my waist and pulled me on top of him.

"Wait just a minute there. I just did all that to get you back, and now you're leaving me again?! I don't think so." He said, still chuckling.

I sighed dramatically. "Alright fine! If you insist!" And I kissed him.

It was just supposed to be a light, chaste kiss, but Carlisle wasn't having that. He kissed me deeply and passionately, and I once again forgot about my family for a few minutes – until Emmet did his faithful duty and broke up the moment as usual.

I laughed and got up, pulling Carlisle with me. I noticed that Esme, Jasper, Edward, Alice, and Rose were all giving him weird looks, like he had randomly transformed to someone else.

"What?" I asked confused.

He looked kind of sheepish, like he was acting childish or something.

"We've just never seen Carlisle like that before." Alice explained, still looking a little strangely at him.

"Really? Weird. You should have seen him this one time when…" I trailed off, looking back and forth between him and his family. "You really are the adult in this house aren't you? Hm… that's weird. I guess you're more mature than a lot of people, but I wouldn't think of you that way. You should let your family see the real you more often." I told Carlisle, studying him with my head cocked to the side.

He shrugged. "It's true I used to be a lot more carefree and easygoing. But I've grown up some since the last time we were together. Seeing you brings it all back though. I feel young again." He smiled at me.

"It's true. I've never seen you this truly happy and at ease Carlisle. I'm very glad Bella is here. She does you a lot of good." Esme said, smiling at us affectionately.

I grinned and intertwined my hand with Carlisle's. "Glad to know I'm good for something!" I said laughing.

But Emmett cut in as usual. "Okay enough! Yes I agree, this is weird to see Carlisle act like a normal person, and yes it's good, but let's go already! Time to play ball!"

**Please review and tell me what you think. Also, if you have any ideas… let me know!**


	12. baseball and phone calls

**Alright, to all those who read this story:  
Should I make the story a lot longer, because I have more ideas and it could keep going for a while… OR should I start to wrap it up??? Help me out and let me know!**

I looked around us for the first time to find an enormous clearing in the woods, surrounded by mountains, a waterfall, and trees. It was breathtaking.

"Team captains… Carlisle and Rosalie!" Alice decided. "Bella, you can be umpire with Esme, cuz you've never played right?"

"Right. Sounds Good." I went to join Esme, who linked her arm through mine and led me off to the side.

"Carlisle, you pick first." Alice said, and Edward walked over to him immediately.

Carlisle grinned. "Just because I _thought_ it doesn't mean I already _decided_." He teased.

"Yeah, yeah I know you want me." Edward grinned back.

Emmett laughed. "Boys! Let's keep it PG here!"

"Rose, your turn."

"Emmett. Come here baby."

"Alice."

"Jasper."

"Perry."

Rose sighed dramatically, but grinned. "Oh fine. I'll take Lola then."

Lola stuck her tongue out at Rose.

And the game commenced from there. Rosalie's team was batting first, and they scored 1 run in the first inning. Then it was Carlisle's team's turn to bat. Perry got on base and then Carlisle stepped up to the plate.

Just before Lola threw the ball, he looked over at me and winked. I grinned at him right when he made contact with the ball.

He was around the bases before Emmett could even get to the ball. Both of them reached home plate and the family was all shocked.

"Wow. I've never seen anyone hit that far, not even Emmett!" Alice commented.

"I blame Bella." Carlisle said, chuckling.

I laughed. "Happy to be of service."

*************************************************************************************

BPOV

A few days later, Carlisle came home from the hospital in a bad mood.

I was in a great mood, having spent all day with my sisters and Angela, my human friend from school. It felt so amazing to act like a normal teenage girl for once. So I wasn't very happy about Carlisle raining on my parade.

He sat down heavily on the couch and sighed. I sat on his lap and made him look at me.

"What's wrong? Did someone die?"

"No, nothing like that. I just found out I have to go to a medical conference in Los Angeles. So I have to go away for a few days." He explained.

"Aww, do you really have to?" Great, now he got me sad too.

"Yes love. But I promise I'll be back in a few days and you won't even notice I'm gone."

I sighed and laced my fingers through his. "Fine. If you must. But you have to call me at every free moment. I'll miss you. A lot."

"As I will miss you." He whispered gently.

We made sweet love that night and he left in the morning, promising to call later that day. I slowly got dressed for school and headed downstairs to join my siblings. Carlisle usually drove me to school in his Mercedes on his way to the hospital. That day I rode with Edward in his Volvo, as my siblings tried to cheer me up. This was going to suck.

I was sitting with my human friends at lunch. My family wasn't as good at distracting me from thoughts of Carlisle. I barely joined in the conversation, preferring to listen and be quiet.

That is until my cell phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID and flipped it open, grinning for the first time all day.

"Miss me already?" I said playfully into the phone.

"Naturally. You mean you don't miss me?" Carlisle asked, trying to sound hurt.

My voice softened. "More than you can imagine."

He sighed. "I think I can imagine it. I'm feeling it too."

"Well, aren't you having fun? I'm sure there are lots of pretty nurses around to distract you from the pain and loneliness."

"Yes, they are more than willing. But none of them even come close to as beautiful as you, of course."

I laughed. "You and your sweet nothings, doctor. You flatter me so."

"That's the point. So how's school?"

"Useless. I would leave, but that would just give me more time to sit at home, bored and missing you."

He sighed. "I know how you feel."

"Yep. But we'll survive. Hopefully."

"Please try."

"Hmmm… okay, only for you though." I teased. "Hey, how much do you love me Carlisle?"

He laughed. "More than you will ever know. What do you want?"

"Driving lessons and your car." I answered immediately.

"Let me think… NO. I will personally make time to give you lessons, but there is no way you're getting my baby."

"Aww, I thought _I_ was your baby!"

"Alright, how about I get you your own car? Any one you like."

I sighed dramatically. "Fine, I guess that will have to do. Well, I better go because lunch is over and Angela CLEARLY wants to bug me about who I'm talking to."

I elbowed Angela gently. She was practically jumping up and down in her seat.

"Alright, I suppose those are valid reasons for me to release you. I love you and I miss you very much. I will talk to you soon I promise."

"You too. Bye Carlisle." I smiled as I hung up and turned very slowly to Angela with an innocent look on my face.

"What?" I asked casually.

"What do you mean 'what'?! Was that your godfather?!" She asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, you seemed pretty close!"

"I've told you. We are."

"Well, are you, like, _close_? Are you guys together?!"

I bit my lip and thought for a moment. _Should I tell her? I can trust her, and it's not illegal or anything…_

I nodded, not meeting her eyes. She squealed and I looked at her, alarmed.

She blushed. "Sorry, I guess Alice is rubbing off on me. But that's so exciting! If a little odd… but you guys have always been a little odd! How long has it been?"

I managed to hold back a laugh. If only she knew how long it's _really_ been…

"2 months - pretty much ever since Edward and I broke up. About the same time as when he and Esme got divorced. It sort of just… happened. Oh, and PLEASE don't tell anyone about this. No one is supposed to know."

Angela sighed. "Wow. You have all the luck. And don't worry; I won't if you don't want me too. Well what happened? Why did he randomly start missing you?"

"He's at a conference in L.A. for a few days." I said sadly, remembering I wouldn't see him when I got home from school.

She gave me a sympathetic look. "That's why you're in such a bad mood. That has to suck."

I sighed again. "Yup."

*************************************************************************************

When I climbed into the car after school, I found my siblings all staring at me, half mad, half just surprised.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked cautiously.

"You told the human girl about you and Carlisle?!" Rosalie asked, looking furious.

"Uh, yeah. I trust her, she's my friend, and she asked. Besides, I want her to come to my wedding."

"Don't worry Rosalie. She won't tell anyone." Alice cut in.

"It's true. She was shocked that Bella even had to ask her to keep it a secret." Edward added.

"But in a town this small, it's easy for word to get out! And if it does, the family's reputation will be ruined and we'll have to move." Rose continued.

"It won't. And even if it does, I don't see how it will really matter. He's supposed to be 24 and I'm supposed to be 18. I'm a legal adult and that's not much of a difference, and everybody knows we're really close. Angela wasn't that surprised. People will just think we're even more different than they did before. I didn't even tell her we're getting married. That's why I keep the ring on my neck."

To hide it but also make sure I had it all the time, I kept my engagement ring on a long chain around my neck.

"Fine! I'm overruled. But just be careful. I'm only trying to protect you and the rest of this family." Rose said, giving me a look.

"Alright. I know Rose, and you do a great job of it. But you can trust me on this one. I promise."

I fingered my ring and sighed, counting down the minutes until I would speak to Carlisle again…

**I'm not very happy with this. Pointless chapter and bad ending. But whatever, it's just a filler until I figure out what to do with the story. By the way, I know people read this story, so if you're one of them, PLEASE review! It takes 30 seconds to click the button and write a few words. I really want to know your opinions so please share them, even if they are negative.  
Thanks!  
~mims**


	13. another reunion

**Woo! 100 reviews! I love you guys! Thank you so much! I have decided to keep the story going for a couple more chapters. And there are a few people who requested some more lemony-ish stuff. I'm sorry, but I'm no good at writing that! But I tried my best to add a little more, so here you go…**

BPOV

The next few days passed in the same fashion. It was torture. Even though I talked to Carlisle at least twice every day, I missed him so much it hurt.

I spent most of my time playing with my ring and reading the inscription over and over again. It was Carlisle's mother's engagement ring, but he had the word _Forever_ inscribed on the inside.

Finally it was Friday and he was due home right before I got out of school. He promised to pick me up after school, so I only had to get through the 6 hours of waiting for him while time seemed to stand still.

Angela was thoroughly annoyed with me by 6th period, since she was in all of my classes and had to deal with my impatience all day.

Five minutes left

Four and a half

Four

"Bella! Yes, the clock _is_ moving, and there are only three and a half minutes left of school. So PLEASE calm down and stop counting the seconds out loud!" Angela finally said.

I rolled my eyes, but stayed quiet.

"Are you _sure_ the clock isn't broken? I really think school should be over by now!" I whined.

"There are _10 seconds _left! Chill!"

"Oh, fine! But only because school is officially…" I waited while the bell rang, "OVER! Let's go!"

I ran out the door as fast as I possibly could while staying human speed, not waiting for Angela. I burst through the doors and into the parking lot. My breath caught in my throat at the sight in front of me.

Carlisle was casually sitting on the hood of his car, arms crossed. Only he could make jeans and a dress shirt that sexy. His entire face lit up as he grinned at me, and I'd never seen anything more beautiful in my whole existence.

And he was _all mine_.

I ran at a fast human pace straight over to him as he got off his car and met me halfway. I launched myself at him and he caught me around my waist, hugging me tightly to his chest.

Unfortunately, every person in the parking lot was watching us, so I had to pull away after only a few moments. I also had to content myself with just a kiss on his cheek, though I let my lips linger there a _little_ longer than strictly necessary.

He waved to the others who were waving from Edward's car. And I nodded to Angela, who was motioning for me to call her later. Then we got in Carlisle's car and sped off.

The ride was spent in comfortable silence. We didn't need many words; we just enjoyed each other's company.

Carlisle had a strange look in his eyes, very intense, as he stared at me. His eyes were black, though I knew he wasn't thirsty, for they had been golden moments ago.

Finally, we pulled up at the house, and he was immediately at my door, holding it open and helping me out in that gentlemanly way of his. As soon as I got out though, he grabbed me up in his arms and kissed me deeply.

I kissed him back enthusiastically, running my fingers through that soft hair I loved so much. His hands moved up and down my back as our tongues fought for control. I moaned into his mouth and he suddenly picked me up and carried me inside.

The door slammed behind us and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he pushed me up against the nearest wall. I accidentally tore his shirt in my haste to be able to feel his chiseled muscles under my fingers. The rest of the kids walked in the door at the moment, but we ignored them, not even breaking our heated kiss.

"Aw, come on guys! Do you realize how disturbing this is for me?!" Emmett yelled.

"At least you don't have to hear his thoughts!" Edward complained.

"Bella! That's was my favorite of his shirts! Now we have to go shopping!" That came from Alice.

Carlisle's mouth moved away from mine and down my jaw and neck.

"Go away." He growled into my skin, nipping it gently as he did so.

I moaned again and pulled on his shoulders, gesturing for him to go upstairs. He complied and brought us up the stairs. I hit to banister on the way and broke off a piece, but ignored Esme's complaints. Carlisle kicked the door a little too hard and part of that broke too.

Oops. We were quite destructive that afternoon. I didn't know what he was thinking to make him like that, but normal Carlisle was gone. He wasn't calm or gentle, this was his animalistic instinct coming out. But hey, I wasn't complaining!

He slammed what was left of the door shut and threw me on the bed.

"I missed you." He whispered before I pulled his mouth back to mine.

*************************************************************************************

Several hours later, I realized we really had to get up. I was so comfortable just like that, but we had to get up at some point, and if we got started again... who knows how long it would be before that could happen. Thank god it was Saturday!

I sighed and rolled off Carlisle's chest, throwing the sheets off of me and standing up. I felt his eyes on me as I turned to the closet and pulled out some clothes. My other ones got a little ripped, well more like shredded.

After I was dressed and a safe distance from the bed I turned back to Carlisle. He looked a little indignant.

"Excuse me? How do you know I'm finished with you?" He teased.

I rolled my eyes. "We have to face the world at some point. So come on, time to get up."

"Fine." He said and shot out of the bed and over to me, kissing me softly. "I got up." He whispered.

"We really have to-" I started, but he cut me off, kissing me again, "stop and go downstairs. Don't-" And again, "start this again."

I finally got up the willpower to shove him off of me and throw some clothes at him, turning around so I wouldn't be tempted again. He was just so irresistible.

When he was dressed, he sighed heavily and grabbed my hand, pulling me out of our room and downstairs, lying on the couch and pulling me on top of him. I grabbed the TV remote and turned on my favorite show.

Emmet came crashing in the door, throwing himself down on the chair. He was followed by the rest of the family, who – realizing it was safe to be around us now – clearly wanted to know what was wrong with us.

Emmett turned off the TV and looked at us expectantly, while I smiled back innocently.

"What?" I asked casually.

"You know very well what! What's up with you two? That was yet another side of Carlisle I have never seen before – and thank God for that. It was like me and Rose all over again! I thought we were the only ones who did that. I mean, I get that you missed each other, but… wow." He said.

"At least they aren't as _loud_ as you two! And Bella, I hope you realize this means we have to go shopping, now that you've destroyed Carlisle's best shirt." Alice said indignantly.

I groaned.

"Maybe they aren't as loud to the rest of you, but Carlisle, PLEASE try to keep your thoughts to yourself! Being the guy who used to be in love with Bella, hearing those kinds of thoughts about her from you is pretty uncomfortable!" Edward whined, sounding disgusted.

I was mortified by their comments, but Carlisle laughed good naturedly – mostly at the look on my face.

"And I can't believe you broke the door, the banister, AND part of the bed. This means even more shopping." Esme added, though I could tell she wasn't really mad, mostly just amused.

I suddenly burst out laughing and they all looked at me like I had grown another head.

"Sorry," I said when I calmed down, "this is just so unbelievable for me. My _family_ is talking to me about my sex life with _Carlisle Cullen_ of all people. Though all the girls chased him, he was easily the most gentlemanly, proper man in all of London. It's just ridiculous. And embarrassing. "

Carlisle chuckled along with me, remembering.

"Anyway, I'm using Angela as an excuse to escape! I have to call her." I said and got up quickly, leaving before anyone could stop me. _That_ was an embarrassing conversation!

I called Angela and she picked up on the first ring.

"Bella! Where have you been?! Busy?" She said suggestively.

I rolled my eyes. "Hey Ang. Yes I have been quite busy, thank you very much."

She sighed. "When you guys saw each other in the parking lot… wow. I don't know, you just look so perfect together, like you're meant to be."

I couldn't keep the huge grin off my face. "Really?"

"Oh yeah. If I didn't have Ben, I would be _so_ jealous."

I laughed. "Nice, Ang. But I could say the exact same thing about you and him. You're so cute together! He's so sweet around you, it's adorable."

"Aw, thanks Bella. Yeah, I love that about him."

"It's true. Oh no, sorry but Alice is literally dragging me out the door to go shopping. Talk to you later!"

"Ooh, good luck with that! Alice is an unstoppable force of nature. Bye Bella!"

"Thanks, I'll need it! Bye Ang."

I hung up and gave in to Alice, who really was throwing me into the car with Carlisle.

I was still grinning idiotically the whole ride to the mall. I was so happy about what Angela said, and I didn't even know why. I guess I had never thought I was good enough for Carlisle, he was so perfect in almost every way. It felt great to know that we looked like we fit together. And even though Angela didn't know about our past and how strongly we really were connected, I guess she could tell anyway.

I intertwined my fingers with Carlisle's and smiled up at him. He kissed my cheek and beamed back at me, probably guessing my thoughts.

_Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks we belong together._

**Another slightly random chapter. The problems arise in the next chapter… and the more you review, the faster it will come!**


	14. use your imagination

"Hey Carli, when do I get my car?" I asked, jumping on top of him and throwing his book to the floor.

"I was reading that." He said calmly.

"Well, I'm more important." I replied, beaming at his sour expression.

"Fine. Let's go now. I'll teach you how to drive on the way there. What kind of car do you want?"

"A blue Audi TT. Come on, let's go!"

I leapt to my feet and pulled him off the couch with me, leading him toward the door.

"Dude, you're whipped!" Emmett said, laughing without taking his eyes off the TV.

I grinned and curtsied. "I try."

Carlisle rolled his eyes. "Let's go already."

And I proceeded to drag him out to the car. Carlisle showed me the basics on the way to the car dealer and I knew I would be able to start driving right away. One of the many advantages of being a vampire.

I already had a license – it came in handy, even if I had never bothered to learn to drive. So we pulled up at the dealer and I hopped out immediately and almost ran to the entrance.

Carlisle laughed and caught up with me, opening the door and leading me inside, his hand resting at the small of my back. I bounced over to a salesman standing around and smiled at him brightly.

"Hi. I need a car. Preferably a blue Audi TT." I said, getting straight to the point.

He looked me up and down and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Well, we're a little backed up right now, but I'm sure I can arrange something for a beautiful woman like yourself."

I smiled sweetly, even though I wanted to smack him. I nudged Carlisle, feeling the growl building up in his chest.

"That sounds wonderful, thank you."

He walked away and I turned to Carlisle smugly. "Jealous much?"

"Of course." He replied. "But you can't make fun of me, because I'm buying you a car."

"Okay, good point." I sighed. "Just let me gather up all my enthusiasm… YAY!!! Thank you so much Carlisle!" I squealed and threw my arms around him.

He laughed and wrapped his arms tightly around my waist. I pulled back and noticed that my exuberance had drawn a lot of attention, and the male population of the room was all watching us longingly.

When I let go of Carlisle, one bold guy squared his shoulders and started to walk toward me. Carlisle gave him a look over the top of my head, so I couldn't see his face, but I imagine it was pretty scary.

But the next thing I knew, Carlisle's mouth was on mine as he kissed me sweetly. I kissed him back and he deepened it, tracing my bottom lip with his tongue. I was suddenly very glad we had to drive so far away from Forks, so nobody here knew us. But I pulled away from him and smacked his chest lightly.

"Carlisle." I scolded. "We're in a public place."

He chuckled. "Well, it seemed to have the desired effect."

I looked around and sure enough, the guys were all glaring at Carlisle, and the one who had started toward me was walking back to his friends.

I feigned hurt. "Oh, so you were just using me?" I teased, pouting.

I was just teasing, but Carlisle's eyes smoldered as he looked at me seriously, and I got lost in them.

"Never." He whispered, and kissed me once tenderly, lovingly. Then he pulled me against his chest gently and I melted into him. Could he get any more amazing?!

I pulled back after a minute and resumed my teasing. I smiled at him and sighed playfully. "Alright, fine. You're forgiven. But only cuz you give such amazing hugs!"

*************************************************************************************

When all the car information was sorted out, I finally hopped into my shiny new car and sped off, not even bothering to wait for Carlisle. I was completely comfortable behind the wheel, and when I pulled into the driveway, I was rather proud of myself for doing such a good job driving.

Carlisle pulled up a few seconds after me and got out of his car. He took my hand and led me inside.

"Gee, thanks for waiting Bells. Beware, everybody, our youngest member has been set loose on the roads. I pity the innocent townspeople of Forks." He said to our family.

I smacked him upside the head and stuck my tongue out. "First of all, I am an excellent and very careful driver. And second of all, don't forget that I'm also older than everyone here, except you because you're practically ancient." I growled.

I was only pretending to be mad, but I really was sad. Carlisle knew me well enough that he could tell I was sad even through my smile and he looked at me, concerned, as did Jasper.

"What's wrong?" He was serious now, all teasing aside.

I smiled at him, but he still was worried.

To everyone's surprise, Edward suddenly stood up from his piano bench and came over to me, wrapping me in his arms. I was shocked, but leaned against his chest and slid my arms around his waist. I closed my eyes and breathed in his scent, relaxing into his familiar embrace.

Although Edward didn't seem to blame me for what happened, and was perfectly civil and a good brother, he had been distant for the last few months. He avoided all touching, and we were never alone together. But he was the only person here who knew what was wrong at that moment, so he broke the careful boundaries and comforted me.

After a few minutes, I smiled up at him. "I've missed you." I whispered.

He smiled back softly. "And I you. Don't be sad, Bella. I know you hate it, but we're here for you, as we always will be."

"Thank you Edward." I kissed his cheek and he released me.

I turned to Carlisle, and found him standing with his arm around Esme's shoulders, and hers around his waist. They were smiling like proud parents.

I grinned, pleased that everything finally seemed completely worked out.

Carlisle gave me a questioning look, and I beckoned for him to follow me as I ran outside, toward the woods.

He caught up with me as I lunged at a deer and drained it. I took my time, straightening my hair and my clothes before he finally walked over to me and pulled my chin up so I had to look at him.

"Will you tell me now?"

"Alright, so I have this issue… basically, I hate being immortal."

He was even more confused. "Why?"

I tried to think of a way to explain my feelings. "It's not that I hate the thought of being with you forever, or even just having forever. It's the thought of being young and beautiful forever that gets me. Most women would die for that, no pun intended. But I hate the fact that I'll always look 18, even though I should be long dead by now. If I didn't have you and our family… I just wish more than anything that we could live out a normal human life together, and then die together when our time was over, like it's supposed to be."

Carlisle watched me with understanding, and crushed me against his chest when I was finished. I buried my face in his chest and he kissed my hair.

"I know exactly what you mean." He whispered.

*****************************************************************************************

JPOV

I sighed and put down my guitar. Alice, Bella, Rose, Perry, and Lola were out hunting for a while and I was bored out of my mind. I went out of my room and walked down the stairs slowly, trying to think of something to entertain me.

I headed to the living room and discovered Esme, Emmett and Edward there. Carlisle must have been in his study. Esme was drawing, Edward playing his piano, and Emmett lying on the couch looking extremely bored.

I flopped down onto the chair and sighed again.

"It's no fun with the girls gone!" Emmett whined.

"Let's get Carlisle to play video games with us." I suggested.

Emmett nodded and sat up, hooking up the Xbox excitedly. "Carlisle, I know you heard me, come on!" I said and he appeared in the doorway.

"Fine, fine, I'm here." He said, sighing, but I knew he was excited too. All of us were dead bored without our significant others.

We played Mario Kart for a few hours, until it got REALLY boring to have Carlisle beat us every time. You would think he would be awful at video games, being from the 17th century… but he was amazing!

He put down the controller and smiled at us smugly. "Sick of losing yet?" He asked as Emmett and I glared at him.

I decided I had to get back at him for this… _but how?_ _Oh yeah, mess with his emotions._ That was always fun! I heard Edward chuckle from the other room and come in to watch.

I sent Carlisle waves of sadness and depression, causing him to slump back in his seat and look like he was about to cry.

Emmett and Edward started cracking up and even Esme chuckled. I changed Carlisle to suddenly ecstatic and energetic causing him to jump up and started running in circles around the room. I was laughing my ass off by now and Carlisle was glaring at me as he bounced around.

"JASPER!" He yelled, but it was hard to take him seriously when he was jumping up and down on the couch.

I sent him some calming waves and he went back to his seat, still glaring at me. NOW I was a little scared.

So I sent him some loving fuzzy feelings. He smiled at me warmly, and I got another idea. I increased the love and added a bunch of lust too, just to see what would happen. I was trying to get him to feel in love with Edward, since he was standing right in front of him.

Edward growled at me, hearing my plan. It would be hilarious to see his face when Carlisle attacked him. _Here it comes… oh shit!_ I thought as Carlisle suddenly ran right past Edward to Esme and practically attacked her.

He kissed her fiercely and pulled her tightly against him. She was completely bewildered and stuck in that position, though she was struggling. But he had one arm around her waist and the other holding her face so she couldn't move. Emmett, Edward and I of course just stood there staring stupidly, not thinking to do anything.

And naturally, the girls and Perry walked in the door at that very moment, laughing together.

Bella looked up and gasped at the sight in front of her. Perry growled, watching Carlisle kissing Esme forcefully, oblivious to his surroundings, as she tried to push him off.

Perry lunged at Carlisle and shoved him away from Esme. Carlisle released her and backed up, a horrified look on his face. His head snapped to where Bella had been moments before, but she was gone.

Her engagement ring clattered to the floor as the door quietly shut behind her.

*************************************************************************************

CPOV

_Oh God. What have I done?! I need to find her. _I slowly bent down and picked up my mother's engagement ring off the floor.

I stood up abruptly and glanced around at my remaining family members. Emmett, Edward, and especially Jasper looked extremely apologetic and sheepish. Perry was furious and holding onto Esme tightly. Esme was just staring at me, expressionless and silent, as she hugged Perry back. Lola was very confused and sympathetic - toward Bella that is. Rosalie also looked furious and sad.

And then there was Alice. It broke my heart to see the look of utter disappointment on her face.

My eyes met hers for a brief moment before I turned and ran out the door as fast as I could.

**GASP! Cliffie! A little random, but I felt something needed to be done about Edward. Review please and make me happy!!**


	15. Alone

**This switches point of view a lot, so sorry. I hope it's not too confusing. Enjoy!**

BPOV

I was still in shock as I started my car and drove away as fast as possible. I shook my head to clear it and focused on the road.

_Where should I go? Who would understand? Angela._ I decided. She was the only one who knew about _him_, so I could tell her the truth.

As I drove, the shock started to fade away and be replaced by sadness, confusion, and self pity. But then those emotions were all overpowered by the extreme anger I suddenly felt.

_How could he do this to me?! I gave him everything and loved him with my entire heart. But he just ripped it out and stabbed it with a knife. He had no right to say he loved me and then just betray me like that! _

I was still furious as I knocked on Angela's door, but as soon as she opened it, I broke down and threw my arms around her, sobbing into her shoulder.

"Bella! Oh my god, what happened?! What's wrong?" she asked, panicking.

I tried to say something, but I thought of the image that would be etched into my mind forever, and I was overcome with sobs. So Angela just led me upstairs and let me cry myself out.

*************************************************************************************

CPOV

I frantically ran after my Bella, but she had taken her car, so I couldn't follow her scent. I tried to call her, but her phone went straight to voicemail.

_How could I be so stupid?! She could be to Alaska by now, or on a plane to another country, or…_

I couldn't think straight, but tried to calm myself enough to be rational and think about where she could have gone.

I drove around aimlessly, calling Bella over and over again, leaving at least 30 messages. At first, I begged and pleaded for her to call me, let me explain. Then I started to get angry and was yelling at her for taking off like that. But by the time I gave up, I was just completely dejected and resigned, asking her to call me soon to let me know she was safe.

After a few hours, I realized it was daytime and I had to go to the hospital. Even at a time like this, I realized that people needed to be saved, and I had a few major surgeries scheduled for today.

But I kept my phone with me all day, praying she would call.

*************************************************************************************

BPOV

Angela sat up with me all night, while I told her what happened. She let me cry, throw things, yell, talk, and cry more.

I had told her I had a medical issue causing me to be unable to shed tears, so I could dry sob all I wanted.

In the morning, it was Monday, so we had school. I asked Angela to tell everyone I was sick, so I didn't have to go.

She told me I could stay with her family as long as I wanted to. I gratefully accepted, though I realized I would have to either talk to _him_ or get my own place after this week.

Angela hesitated at the door on her way to school.

"Are you sure you'll be okay on your own today?" She asked cautiously.

"Yeah, I promise. I'm just going to go pick up some clothes for a few days from my house and then maybe go to Seattle and distract myself."

She nodded and left. I leaned against the door and sighed, praying _he _would be at work when I got to the house. I steeled myself and got in my car, driving home.

I pulled into the garage and was relieved to see certain cars gone, so everyone except Esme would be out.

I walked in the door, and up to my room, trying not to think of who else lived in that room. His scent hit me full force as I entered, and it took all the strength I had not to collapse on the bed and soak it up as much as possible.

I decided it would be best for both of us if I just took all my stuff out of there. So I packed a few bags of all my clothes, makeup, jewelry, books, and the teddy bear that I'd had since I was a child.

I was loading up my car when Esme appeared in the doorway, an unreadable expression on her face. I felt the knife in my heart twist as I looked at her. I thought of her as my mother, and it hurt so much to see her after all this. I didn't blame her of course, I'd seen her struggle.

My face crumpled and hers immediately softened as she ran over to me and pulled me into a soft, comforting hug. I had thought I was done crying, but I couldn't stop a few sobs from escaping me.

She whispered comforting things to me until I calmed down and looked at her.

"I'm so sorry Bella." She whispered, sounding tortured.

I looked at her in shock. "It's not your fault at all, Esme. Don't apologize."

She shook her head. "Bella, you have to understand what happened. Let someone explain, even if it's not him. It's all a misunderstanding, see-"

I cut her off. "No, Esme. I understand why he would do this. I don't really blame him either. Please don't try to explain anything to me."

She looked like she wanted to argue, but stayed silent.

I fingered the necklace _he_ had given me. I hesitated, undecided about what I should do. I pulled the necklace off and handed it to Esme, not meeting her eyes.

"Can you give this to him please?" I whispered.

She took it and nodded. I turned and started to leave, knowing it would be harder if I looked at her face. But I stopped with my hand on the car door and met her eyes anyway.

"Oh, and Esme? I'll be back. I just need some space for a few days. I'm staying at Angela's house. Even if it's just to say goodbye, I'll be back." I called softly.

I got in the car and sped off before I could change my mind, glancing back at my mother figure one last time.

*************************************************************************************

CPOV

When I got home from the hospital, I closed myself in my study and just sat there, staring at the wall. She still hadn't called. Or even turned on her phone.

Someone knocked softly on my door sometime after night had fallen. The door opened and Esme was leaning against the doorframe, looking at me carefully.

That was odd. She hadn't said a single word to me or even so much as looked at me since the day before. I hid my face in my hands, not able to look at her.

The silence was deafening as she stood there and watched me.

"Carlisle." She said softly, "She came by today."

My head snapped up. "What did she say? Is she alright? Where is she?"

"She's staying with Angela Webber for a few days. And yes, she is safe."

I noticed how she said 'safe' instead of something about her well-being. It must be bad.

"Angela's? I have to go see her…" I started talking to myself as I got up and grabbed my car keys, heading to the door.

But Esme put one of her small hands on my chest. I could have gotten past her easily, but the look on her face stopped me.

"Carlisle, she needs time. You can't go to her yet. The poor girl doesn't know what to think, she needs time to process it. If you try to force yourself on her now, before she even knows what she's feeling, it will only make things worse."

I protested. "But I need to explain it to her. If I tell her what really happened, it will be fine; she'll see it's just a misunderstanding."

"I already tried, Carlisle. She's confused, but she doesn't want anything explained to her. You need to give her space. She'll come to you when she's ready to."

I sighed. She was right. As much as I wanted to see my Bella – which was more than anything – I couldn't. Not yet.

"She wanted me to give you this." Esme whispered gently.

I looked at her hand, which was holding the necklace I gave to Bella so long ago. It was my way of showing her that she held my heart.

As I looked at it, I could feel my dead heart ripping right down the middle. I took it from Esme carefully, holding it for a minute before I couldn't stand it anymore and I fell to my knees clutching the necklace to my heart. Esme slowly kneeled in front of me and wrapped her arms around me as I buried my face in her neck.

She held me in her soft embrace for a long time, rubbing my back and just comforting me in that motherly way of hers. Eventually, I couldn't sit there any longer; I had to go do something.

Anything to distract me from this pain.

I pulled away from Esme gently and tried to smile at her, but it was probably more of a grimace.

"She said she'd be back in a few days. Even if it's just to say goodbye. But I think everything will work out. She truly loves you." Esme told me softly, but I refused to let myself gain any hope, fearing I would just be hurt more.

"And please talk to Jasper. He's a mess." She said and I nodded.

She left, sensing I needed space, shooting me a sad glance as she did so.

It took all my willpower not to head straight to Angela's and find my Bella. But I resisted, and went to find Jasper.

He was playing his guitar, but stopped immediately when I entered his room.

I cleared my throat, trying to think of something to say to break the awkward silence.

"Where's Alice?" I asked quietly.

"She's… at Angela's."

*************************************************************************************

BPOV

I spent the rest of that day lying around and listening to sad music, moping and feeling sorry for myself. I listened to the 53 voicemail messages on my phone from my various family members, all reflecting their personalities, but all trying to get me home. I listened to the ones from _him_ over and over again, though I knew it would just make me feel worse.

But I figured if I was going to get over him, I would have to start with this.

When Angela got home from school, we did homework and then watched sappy romance movies. She was great with all this. I really owed her a lot.

Sometime in the middle of the night, while the Webbers were all sleeping, there was a quiet knock on the bedroom window, and I opened it to find Alice sitting in a tree outside.

I jumped out the window, careful not to wake Angela. I landed neatly on the ground and Alice threw herself at me, hugging me tightly. I hugged her back unenthusiastically, and she gave me a sad look.

We sat down against the tree and she spoke first.

"Bella, I'm so glad you're safe, and still here. I was going to come right away, since I knew where you were headed of course. But I figured you needed some alone time. We were all so worried about you. Especially Carlisle."

I flinched at his name, but she ignored me and continued.

"He's a mess. It's really bad. He's like a zombie, even the humans are noticing."

I couldn't help myself. I got defensive.

"Well are you expecting me to apologize? It's his own damn fault." I said bitterly.

Alice gave me a look and I sighed. "I'm sorry. I really don't blame him or anyone else. I understand why he'd want her more than me. He doesn't have anything to be sorry for. It's not his fault. I just have to get over it. But it just hurts so much." My voice broke on the last sentence.

Alice leaned over and hugged me again, but this time it was more comforting.

"You've got it all wrong, Bella. It's not like that at all. But I'm not going to even try to tell you the truth about it. I know you won't listen, and besides, he needs to be the one to explain himself to you."

I didn't understand why everyone was insisting that it was a misunderstanding, that I didn't know the whole story. _Why make this any worse by getting my hopes up or saying it's not a big deal?_

Alice sat with me for the rest of the night. Sometimes we talked, sometimes we sat in comfortable silence and enjoyed each others' company.

It felt great to have someone with me - even if it wasn't the person I wanted here the most.

**This made me sad. Poor Bella and Carlisle. Like it? Hate it? Tell me what you think!!**


	16. Talking It Out

**Hi! Sorry about the long wait, and thanks so much for the great reviews. Don't worry, I'm 99.9% sure this fic will end up with Carlisle/Bella. I'm just not sure how quite yet… well, enjoy!**

CPOV

Jasper looked very uncomfortable, dealing with both of our awkward emotions. Finally he spoke, sounding desperate.

"Look, Carlisle, I'm so sorry. You have no idea how much. I never meant for anything like this to happen. I was trying to get you to kiss Edward, as a joke. I never thought – I never wanted-"

I cut him off. "No, Jasper. It's not your fault. Really, I was stupid, don't think you caused this all to happen."

He rolled his eyes. "Carlisle. You're so calm and reasonable and understanding about everything. You should be yelling at me, throwing things, even killing me right now."

"I don't have the energy. I'm not mad at you - I can't be, I can't feel anything other than the pain." I slumped down onto his couch and held my head in my hands.

He sighed. "I know. I feel it too. But seriously, it _is _my fault. You can't honestly blame yourself for this. I manipulated you, forced you to do it."

"But I know you didn't mean for it to turn out like this. So it's not your fault. Maybe you caused me to do what I did, but the rest was all based on reactions to it. You couldn't have predicted this. Not even Alice could have. Besides, something like this was bound to happen eventually. Not exactly this situation, maybe, but Bella has never believed that I truly love her. No matter how many times I tell her or show her that I do, she still has doubts. She thinks she isn't good enough for me, when really it's the other way around. I don't deserve her, but I got her anyway. But now I've ruined that. So now I have to fix it. Or at least try to."

Jasper smiled at me. "Thank you Carlisle. And I really am sorry. If there's anything I can do…"

"I know you are son. I'll let you know. Thank you."

*************************************************************************************

BPOV

I returned to the room just before Angela woke up, and pretended I had just gotten up myself. I took a quick shower and got ready for school, claiming not to be hungry because of nerves about seeing my siblings.

We rode to school together in my car. As much as it hurt to think about who bought it for me, I loved that car, and would not be missing any opportunity to drive it.

I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders as I entered the building. Nobody else knew about what happened other than my family and Angela, so I just had to act like everything was fine, and avoid my siblings at all cost. Which would be difficult, seeing as I had every class with at least one of them, and I sat next to them in all those classes.

But I managed to ignore them, not making eye contact or speaking to them at all, except Alice of course. It was odd; Jasper was watching me all day, seeming nervous and uncomfortable. He also looked very apologetic and upset for some reason every time I caught his eye.

For the most part, they ignored me too. Rather, they seemed to want to talk to me, but were resisting, trying to give me space and let me come to them. Every time I looked up in biology, where I sat next to Edward, he would be reaching toward me with his mouth open slightly, like he was about to say something. But he would always change his mind and pull away whenever I looked at him.

At lunch, I sat with Alice and Angela at an empty table in the corner of the cafeteria. A lot of people stared, but no one approached us. I could feel the Cullens' eyes on us the entire time, but I refused to look their way.

*************************************************************************************

No POV at all

The next three days passed in the much the same manner for both Carlisle and Bella. They each tried to be happy and distracted, and think of the other as little as possible. But they did think of each other, all the time, as hard as they tried not to. Neither was satisfied - they knew they needed to talk, get some closure, even if they didn't get back together.

The people around them tried to keep them busy, to help in some way. But nothing worked. They were miserable without each other, incomplete, broken.

Though the two were surrounded by people, they both felt utterly _alone._

Finally, it was Friday and Bella was ready to face him. She had gotten over the anger, and some of the sadness. Well, more like she was better at hiding the sadness. She had decided that she couldn't possibly survive losing Carlisle again, so she would go home. But she would explain to him that she understood why he would choose Esme, and that she was happy just being friends, as long as he was in her life.

After school on Friday, Bella drove straight to the Cullen house, knowing Carlisle would be home from the hospital.

Ashe didn't bother knocking, she just walked right in and into Carlisle's study, not looking at anyone though they were all watching her. She closed the door behind her and stood in front of Carlisle's desk, expressionless and silent, watching him stare at her in amazement.

He stood up and approached her, reaching out for her hand, but she pulled hers away.

"Bella." He whispered, trying to catch her eye, but she wouldn't look directly in his eyes. She was staring at a point just next to his head, focusing on it to keep her from throwing herself at him or crying.

He looked at her pleadingly. "Bella, just let me explain what really happened."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. "No, I know you think there's nothing to explain, but there is. It was stupid, really. I won a video game and Jasper was mad, so he was manipulating my emotions. He was making me feel love and lust, trying to make me feel that toward Edward, just to see his reaction. I swear I would never do that, it's not at all what you thought. It's just a misunderstanding."

He waited for her reaction, praying that she would forgive him, but her expression didn't change at all. She was still staring at the wall, with an unreadable look on her face.

"Bella?" Carlisle asked softly.

Her eyes snapped to meet his, and they were angry. "What Carlisle? What do you want me to say? Are you expecting me to throw myself into your arms and forgive you just like that? This doesn't change anything." She snapped.

"No, I'm not expecting that, but Bella I would never do anything like that. It was just messed up timing, none of this should have happened. I'm so sorry Bella." He was begging now, and she couldn't bear to look at him any longer, it only made the knife in her heart twist and hurt even more.

She sighed and said, "Me too. Look Carlisle, I'm not angry. I tried to be, but I just can't. I don't blame anyone for this happening. I'm just so, _so_ sorry. For everything. I showed up back in your life when you were happily married. I know you better than anyone, and I could see that you really loved her. And I took that away from you. I don't blame you at all for wanting someone else. She's a beautiful, wonderful woman, and she's whole. I'm not, I'm broken, I've been used and hurt so many times. I understand completely."

"Bella, yes I did love her, but I've always loved you. Even all the time I thought you were dead, I knew you would always be the one who held my unbeating heart. Esme is an amazing person, but I don't love her in that way anymore. And I don't care how broken you are, none of what caused that was your fault. And despite it all, I love you more than anything else in this universe. Why can't you see that? I don't want anyone else. If you let me love you with all I have, I can make you whole again. Please, Bella, I'll do anything. I need you."

She bit her lip to stop it from trembling, and still refused to look at him. She knew that would only make her feel worse, and make it harder to say what she was about to. She took a deep, shuddering breath.

"But even if that's all true, and this was just Jasper messing around, I can't do this to myself anymore. You know I don't like to dwell on the past and I hate feeling sorry for myself, but I admit that a lot of bad things have happened to me. I can't be hurt anymore, Carlisle. I can't survive any more pain like this."

"I know, Bella. But if you give me another chance, I promise I'll never hurt you again. And I won't let anything else hurt you either." He pleaded.

"But how do I know that's the truth? You've said that before. How do I know this is any different? I'm sorry, but I just can't do it. But I can't lose you again either. I still want you in my life, if you're okay with that. We can both move on and start over as friends. Unless you'd rather I leave."

"No, Bella, please stay. I need you, even . We can be… friends, like we used to be."

She nodded carefully and finally looked him in the eye again. She smiled sadly, and he returned the expression, though it was more fake for him. At least he got to have her in some way, even if not in the way he wanted her.

He cautiously reached out his arms to her, and she moved into them. They met in a sweet, tender embrace. It was their way of showing all their love for each other, and though they would see each other every day, it was their way of saying goodbye.

*****

The next few weeks were as normal as life could be for a family of vampires. Carlisle and Bella were starting over as friends, and it was slowly becoming easier for them. Mostly they were just glad to have each other, and it was getting back to normal. To anyone who didn't know them very well, it would seem as though they were very close friends, but their family could tell it was a little awkward for them.

The truth was that neither of them was satisfied. They both wanted so much more from their relationship, but they couldn't find the words to tell each other that.

Bella had lots of help in getting over it though. She had her family, and when she needed to get away from them, Angela and her other human friends. Carlisle was having much tougher time, but since he had always been the leader, the solid, calm, stable one of the family, no one really thought about that. They all were more sympathetic and helpful to Bella than him.

It wasn't their fault, they just figured she needed it more, because he was always 'okay'. They didn't think to ask him if he really was doing okay, they just took it for granted that he always seemed to be fine. Bella was the only one who could tell how hard he was taking it, but she couldn't do much about it since she was the one who caused it.

*************************************************************************************

BPOV

About a month after the 'incident', life changed for us again, though in a less drastic way. I was sitting on the couch reading while Alice looked through a magazine and Emmett, Carlisle, and Perry played video games.

Alice had been grinning smugly at me all day. She had obviously seen a good vision about me, and was rubbing it in my face.

All of a sudden my phone started to ring:

_Baby you know that I miss you  
I wanna get with you  
Tonight but I cannot baby girl and that's the issue  
Girl you know I miss you  
I just wanna kiss you  
But I can't right now  
So baby kiss me through the phone  
Kiss me through the phone  
Kiss me through the phone  
kiss me through the phone_

Carlisle stiffened slightly, but I brushed it off, wondering whose ringtone that was. I glanced at the caller ID and quickly answered with a grin.

"Hey babe, miss me?"

"All the time. I never stop thinking about you." He replied sweetly. "Hence the ringtone."

"Aw, have I told you lately how much I love you, sweetie?" I teased.

I heard a dull crunch and glanced up to see the game controller smashed in Carlisle's hand. He abruptly stood up and left the room. I brushed it off and returned my attention to the phone.

He was laughing. "Guess what?"

"You know I don't like guessing. I'm too impatient. Tell me!"

"I have a surprise for you. And it's really good, you'll love it trust me."

"Well aren't you confident. Oh come on, you know I don't like surprises either!"

"Okay, okay, then just walk out your front door and you'll find it."

I got very curious and stood up immediately to check it out.

"But how would you get something all the way here…" I looked out the door, "NO WAY! Oh my god I love you!" I hung up the phone and crashed right through the door, not even having the patience to open it.

"Demetri!" I shrieked and ran to him.


	17. Demetri's Advice

**I'm so sorry this took so long!! My bad. I've been really busy. Okay, so this might be moving really fast, I just didn't know what to do to get them back together, so I just made her kinda realize it. I hope you like it and please PLEASE review!!**

**BPOV**

I jumped up into his strong arms, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and burying my face in his neck. He hugged my waist tightly with one arm and stroked my hair with the other.

I kissed him lightly, just a peck on the lips as a greeting to a friend. But I heard something crash from inside and figured Carlisle saw, so I pulled away quickly. I grinned up at Demetri.

"I can't believe you're here! You have the most perfect timing. I really missed you, I'm so excited!"

I paused, looking him over. "Look at you! Trying to fit in with the young people now, are we? You look great! Someone should really do something about those robes, they aren't flattering at all. Love the hair, by the way. Oh God, I'm turning into Alice."

I was terrified by that revelation, but it was true, he looked really good. I hadn't seen him out of robes since the 70's, and this was a definite improvement.

He was wearing jeans that fit him nicely, and a tight black t-shirt that emphasized his muscles. Demetri was very tall, a few inches taller than Carlisle, and rather lean, though he still had very impressive muscles. His long hair was flowing freely down to his shoulders.

"I don't need to tell you that you look amazing Bella. God I missed you." He gave me another quick hug and I beamed. I always felt so great just being around him.

"Come on, let's go inside and introduce you to everyone. Well, they've heard a lot about you but none of them really know you."

I grabbed his arm and dragged him inside, wincing when I saw the damage I had caused to the door. I smiled at Esme sheepishly.

She was trying to look mad, but failing miserably. "Must you always insist on breaking my house Bella?"

I tried not to think of the last time I was feeling destructive. Carlisle shifted uncomfortably, and I could tell he was doing the same.

"Sorry, I just get a little… excited. One of the downsides of being trapped in the body of a teenage girl. You know how it is." I shrugged, and she laughed. Mission accomplished.

"So Bella, are you going to introduce us to your friend?" Rosalie asked, smiling flirtatiously at Demetri as she looked him up and down. I couldn't blame her, but Emmett looked flustered.

I laughed at the look on Emmett's face. "Careful, Rose. You don't want to make Emmett jealous."

"Actually, that's the whole point," she said, laughing too, "it's really fun to watch him when he's jealous."

Emmett stuck his tongue out childishly.

"Anyway, I guess you guys have all heard of and probably seen him, but most of you aren't formally introduced to this guy. Everybody, this is Demetri, Demetri, this is everybody. Demetri is part of Volturi guard as you know, and he's also my very best friend."

"I thought _I_ was your best friend!" Alice whined, pretending to be sad.

"You're my _sister_, Ali, he's my guy best friend. Besides, we became friends when I was with the Volturi – _way_ before I ever met you."

Demetri greeted those he didn't know – everyone but Carlisle. He nodded at Carlisle, who returned it unsmiling. I got the impression they wouldn't be the best of friends.

Something suddenly occurred to me. I looked at Demetri again and blinked in confusion when I noticed for the first time the duffel bag he had with him.

"Wait a second, I'm really happy to see you and everything, but what are you doing here?"

"Well, Aro decided I needed a vacation. Apparently, I looked incredibly depressed without you around for entertainment. So I came to visit you. I figured I'd find a hotel or something in the area and get my fill of Forks and you for a while before heading back."

"Yay!" I exclaimed, clapping my hands, even though I knew I looked like a little kid. But then I stopped and looked at him like he was out of his mind. "What are you talking about? A hotel, are you kidding me? You'll stay with us of course!"

Demetri hesitated, glancing at Carlisle.

"Is that alright with everyone?" I asked my family, but looked at Carlisle.

He smiled slightly. "If that's what you want Bella. But we'll have to ask you to leave the area to hunt."

Demetri shrugged. "It's okay. I'll just feed off animals while I'm here. It's not as filling, but it's not bad."

"Good boy." I patted his head, though it didn't have the same effect as I wanted, seeing as I had to reach a foot above my head to do it. I smiled at him proudly.

"I always used to hunt animals, so I got Demetri to try it for a while." I explained to the rest of my family.

"Where will he be staying?" Esme asked.

"With me." I replied.

Everyone looked at Carlisle again.

"What? It's not like he uses it for anything but storing his clothes and showers and stuff. We can all fit." I said. "Please Carlisle?"

He did _not_ look pleased with the thought of us sharing a room with Demetri, but I gave him my best puppy dog face, and he smiled slightly again and relaxed a little, though his jaw was clenched.

"That's fine with me." He said.

I grinned and hugged him quickly. His hands went around my waist briefly, hesitantly. All our touches were like that now. Quick, careful, and leaving me wanting more.

I grabbed Demetri and pulled him upstairs to our room. He looked around it appreciatively, sitting on the bed.

"Nice room. And… big bed." I turned away from his meaningful look.

"Bella." He said softly, getting up to stand in front of me, pulling my chin up with his hand. "What happened with him this time?"

I avoided his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about. We're not together like _that_ anymore, but things are great between us."

He rolled his eyes. "Isabella Swan. Maybe that works on everyone else, but you're not fooling me. He did something to hurt you – again."

I nodded silently, trying to hold myself together. I avoided his eyes, knowing if I looked there I would lose it.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Demetri murmured, trying to get me to look at him.

I wordlessly nodded and grabbed his arm, pulling him toward the door. I led him downstairs and out to the trees, taking off into a run as I reached them. We ran silently until we reached a clearing, and I stopped. I sat down cross-legged, and Demetri imitated me, sitting a few feet away.

"Bells," he whispered, "tell me."

I took a deep, shuddering breath, and told him what happened, from the moment I walked in the door and found Carlisle and Esme up to the talk we had a few days later. When I finished, I looked up at Demetri, not knowing what to expect from him. His face showed a range of emotions – anger, pity, sadness, and some I couldn't place.

After a while, he spoke. "Bella, I don't really know what to say. If I were talking as the guy who loves you and wants to protect you, I would tell you I hate him. If I were being your best friend and trying to make you feel better, I would say he doesn't deserve you and you should move on and be happy. But speaking as a combination of those two, someone who knows you well and wants to protect you and also tell you the truth, I'm going to say this: you're being a little ridiculous."

I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up a hand to silence me. "I mean that in as nice a way as possible. But the thing is that this could all go away very easily. I think you both want things to go back to normal, to the time when you had the perfect happy ending, a love right out of a movie. But between your stubbornness and his gentleness, that isn't going to happen anytime soon. Those traits keep you from admitting you were wrong and him from pushing you. So I think all you really have to do is quit being so damn hardheaded and talk to him – tell him what you really want. Not what you think is right, but what you want. Be selfish for once, and take what you want before it's too late."

My mouth was still hanging open, but in surprise this time. Demetri was dead on about everything. Trust him to just show up randomly at the perfect time and get me to see the obvious solution. Of course, I had considered talking to Carlisle many times, but I could never convince myself to do it. This time though, I felt a tiny bit of hope. Maybe it would really work this time.

I realized that as I had been thinking about all of this, Demetri was sitting there, unable to tell what my reaction was or what I was thinking about. He was beginning to look apprehensive, expecting me to get angry at him.

I snapped out of my thoughts and grinned at him. He relaxed visibly when I moved over to him and crawled onto his lap, hugging him gratefully. "Thank you so much, Demetri. You have no idea how helpful that was."

He nodded and smiled back at me, but I could still detect a hint of sadness in his eyes. "What is it?" I asked gently.

"It's just… he's hurt you so much, and yet you still love him. This is going to sound bad, but I almost hoped he had hurt you enough to convince you to get over him and come back to Italy with me. I only want you to be happy, I just sort of wish that would be the thing that would make you happy. I miss you."

"Aw, Demetri. Don't worry. Even if I'm with Carlisle, you're still my best friend. No matter how much I love him, I'll always love you." I kissed his cheek and hugged him again. This time, his smile was real.

*************************************************************************************

**Meanwhile, back at the Cullen house…**

Alice came out of a vision with a grimace contorting her pretty face. Jasper looked up from his book in concern.

"What is it darlin'? What did you see?" He asked her.

"Bella… and Demetri, in a clearing. She was sitting on his lap and they had their arms around each other. She told him that no matter how much she loved someone else, she would always love him. And then she kissed his cheek and hugged him." She said sadly.

Jasper frowned. "Well, it could just be a friend thing. I didn't feel any romantic love coming from Bella earlier. So just don't mention it to Carlisle and we'll see what happens."

She nodded, though she seemed unconvinced. "They're on their way back here now, and Bella wants to talk to Carlisle now. Maybe she's going to tell him she's with Demetri." She said worriedly and bit her lip.

She looked adorable and Jasper couldn't resist wrapping her up in his arms. "I don't think we should worry just yet. Maybe-"

He stopped talking when he heard a noise and turned to see Carlisle with a defeated expression on his face before he turned and went into his office, closing the door behind him.


	18. Finally!

**Okay this is short because I just wanted to get it done and it's been so long since I updated. Enjoy and review please!!!**

BPOV

"C'mon Bell, let's race!"

"Demetri, I have always been faster than you and I always will be. Give it up!"

He completely ignored me and started running, "Last one back is a rotten egg!"

I rolled my eyes and caught up with him easily. I passed him and just before the house, he decided he had enough of me winning. He grabbed me and tossed me over his shoulder.

We entered the house like that, laughing together, me on Demetri's shoulder. He refused to put me down, so I steered him to Carlisle's office door so that I could talk to him right away. I knocked from my position and Carlisle's voice told me to come in. Demetri opened the door and finally set me down and left to give us some privacy. I was still grinning like crazy, but it faded slightly at the look on Carlisle's face.

"What? Who died?"

"Don't joke around with me any more Bella. It's okay. I get it. He seems like a good guy, you'll be happy together. I'm happy for you, happy that you can move on. You don't have to worry about me."

I stared at him in confusion for a moment before it clicked in my head. He thought I was about to tell him I was with Demetri. I couldn't help myself – I started laughing.

"Like I said, I'm happy for you, but is this really that funny?" Carlisle asked, sounding hurt.

I pulled myself together and smiled at him. "Carlisle, I didn't come here to tell you that I'm in love with Demetri, I came to tell you that I'm in love with _you_."

I waited for a second while he processed that, my smile widening as I watched his expression change from shock to happiness to wariness.

"What are you talking about? We've been over this, we're better off-"

"Who are we kidding Carlisle? We obviously love each other, and I don't know about you, but I was a hell of a lot happier when I didn't have to hide that fact. I was talking to Demetri and he just opened my eyes to what's been right in front of us this whole time. We've been through _so_ much together. Personally, I think all our experiences together – the good and the bad – show that we belong together. It's true that we might have a lot of rough times ahead of us, but I've realized that it isn't worth giving up all the happiness and fun for some hurt. And even though this sounds so incredibly cliché, we can get through it together."

I waited nervously, expecting him to take some time to think. But before I could blink (not that I needed to), he had grabbed me and was spinning me around in his arms. We stayed wrapped up in each other's arms for an immeasurable moment. I was half laughing half crying from pure happiness. Eventually he loosened his hold on me and kissed me with all the passion and love that had been building up for all this time. I kissed him back with everything I had, trying to show him just how much I loved him and meant everything I said.

When we pulled away, he released me and went started to move away. I whimpered at the loss of contact and he chuckled, but continued to walk away from me. He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled something out.

He knelt down in front of me and took my hand. Déjà vu.

"Bella, will you finally marry me?" He asked.

I laughed and took the offered ring, slipping it onto my finger and hugging Carlisle. "Yes, of course I will silly!"

He beamed and took my hand to lead me out of the office to the living room, calling the names of all the others. When they came down, we were still holding hands and smiling like we just won a million dollars. The truth was even better.

"Since of course none of you were listening to our conversation, we have some news." Carlisle said sarcastically. "We're engaged. Again."

Alice ran forward to hug us, bouncing so much that we ended up bouncing too. Everyone else congratulated us, and naturally Emmett made some obnoxious comment about what took us so long.

"Guess what this means Bella?!" Alice shrieked.

I had a feeling this wouldn't be too fun for me. "What?" I said apprehensively.

"It's time to plan your wedding!!!" She shrieked. I gave Jasper a meaningful look and he sent calming waves all around the room, but they seemed to have no affect on Alice.

I turned to Carlisle instead. "Save me."

"Sorry sweetie. Alice is unstoppable when she's like this. And I really don't want to get in the middle of this. You're on your own!"

I rolled my eyes. "Gee, thanks Carli!" I yelled as Alice dragged me out to her car. Esme, Rosalie, and Lola followed at a safe distance and we met up at the mall. The entire drive, Alice had been chattering away about invitations, decorations, and most of all… dresses. We were going to 'check out the options' at the Port Angeles mall. This was going to be hell in the form of white fabric.

After hours of shopping and trying on dress after dress, Alice decided that we should special order something. And I decided that I would let her handle that.

Next, we discussed who to invite. Of course we would invite the Denalis, select Volturi members (though I was sure they wouldn't come, it was still polite), and other random old friends of the Cullens. I really wanted to invite Angela, but that request caused some problems.

Rosalie was adamant about having no humans, Esme just wanted to have everything exactly how I wanted it so it was perfect for me, Lola was neutral but liked Angela, and Alice didn't comment at first.

"C'mon guys, it's my wedding and she's my human best friend." I whined.

"But we'll have to be really careful. And not all of the guests are vegetarians." Rosalie pointed out.

I noticed that Alice was staring into space with her eyes glazed over. She snapped out of it after a second and I asked, "what is it Ali? What do you see?"

She grinned. "It'll be okay. Everyone will be careful and Angela will be fine. We just have to warn all the guests ahead of time."

I clapped my hands in excitement. "Yay! Thank you guys, this is going to be perfect. I'm so happy."

It was the truth. I could hardly believe it. I was finally getting married to the man I had been waiting on for 300 years. Carlisle Cullen.


End file.
